Light rain likely in Delhi over next 2 days: India Meteorological Department

New Delhi: The national capital and its neighbouring cities are likely to receive light rainfall over the next two days under the influence of a fresh western disturbance passing over the Himalayas, the weather department said on Thursday.

Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have also received a fresh spell of snowfall due to the western disturbance.

"After the western disturbance withdraws, icy cold northwesterly winds blowing from snow-laden Himalayas will bring temperatures down in the plains," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The minimum temperature is expected to drop to 8 degrees Celsius by Monday, according to an IMD forecast.

The city recorded a minimum temperature of 10.9 degrees Celsius on Thursday. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 29 degrees Celsius.

Delhi's air quality was recorded in the "very poor" category, and is likely to improve over the next two days due to a predicted increase in the wind speed and light rain.

The city's air quality index (AQI) was 304 at 10 am. The 24-hour average AQI was 358 on Wednesday.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".