Residents of New Delhi woke up to dense fog on Friday as several trains and flights were affected in the national capital for the second day.

The Indian Railways said 12 trains were rescheduled after getting delayed for at least two hours. Yoga Express, Anand Vihar Express, Mumbai CST Amritsar Express, and Shiv Ganga Express were delayed by two hours each, while Brahmaputra Mail, Sangam Express and Poorva Express were delayed by 2:30 hours each.

Purushottam Express and Sapt Kranti Express were delayed by four and three hours respectively because of low visibility.

Several flights were also rescheduled and diverted at Delhi airport.

On Thursday, the departure of flights at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was put on hold between 7.30 am to 9.30 am with several flights diverted and many arrivals of many delayed.

The visibility dropped to 400 metres and the air quality recorded under ‘severe’ category, the weather office said.

“The minimum temperature was recorded at 7.1 degrees Celsius, the season’s average. At 8.30am the humidity was recorded at 100%, while the visibility was recorded at 400 metres,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said, according to news agency IANS.

The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said the overall air quality of the national capital was recorded in ‘severe’ category with the air quality index being at 449. The weather office has predicted haze and smoke for the day.

“There was moderate to dense fog in the morning. The sky will remain mainly partly cloudy with haze and smoke thereafter,” the official said.

The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 21 degrees Celsius.

On Thursday, the minimum temperature was recorded at 6.7 degrees Celsius, one notch below the season’s average, while the maximum temperature settled at 25.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s average.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast light rain and thundershower in Delhi over the weekend because of a western disturbance. It has also forecast that moderate to dense fog could hit the city soon after the rains.

(With agency inputs)

First Published: Jan 04, 2019 11:07 IST