Cold wave, dense fog: Severe fog and cold wave conditions gripped north India on Sunday morning, with temperatures plunging to near zero to 2 degrees Celsius in some states including the national capital Delhi.
In Delhi, a thick layer of fog covered the entire city, lowering visibility at places like India Gate, Akshardham, Railway stations, and Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.
WATCH
Thailand Vacation: Places, Beaches & Food For A Perfect Holiday
Surya Grahan, Chandra Grahan in 2023: Total Solar Eclipse, Partial Lunar Eclipse
Barbie, Oppenheimer, Spider-Man: Most Anticipated Hollywood Releases In 2023
The Northern Railways said 42 trains were running late in the northern region due to dense fog. At Anand Vihar railway station, Dhananjay Kumar, a passenger, said: "I came from Bihar's Patna and my train reached here late by 2-3 hours due to fog."
The Indian Railways has cancelled 259 trains scheduled for Sunday.
Around 20 flights have been delayed at Delhi's IGI airport, an official told the news agency ANI.
In a tweet, Vistara said its flight from Mumbai to Chandigarh had been diverted to Jaipur due to lower visibility.
"Flight UK653 from Mumbai to Chandigarh (BOM-IXC) has been diverted to Jaipur (JAI) due to low visibility at Chandigarh Airport and is expected to arrive in Jaipur at 08:50 am," it said.
This morning, the news agency shared visuals of a thick layer of fog covering the cities like Delhi, Lucknow, and Siliguri in north Bengal.
In Delhi, Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 1.9 degrees Celsius, Aya Nagar recorded a minimum temperature of 2.6 degrees Celsius while Lodhi Road recorded 2.8 and Palam 5.2, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday.
The weather office has issued an 'orange' alert for certain parts of north India including Delhi for Sunday, warning that dense fog, cold day and cold wave conditions will persist. Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions are very likely to continue over some areas in Rajasthan and Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi on December 8 (Sunday), it said.
On Saturday, the Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 2.2 degrees Celsius - which was lower than that of most places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and some hill stations in Jammu and Kashmir.
A severe cold wave brought the minimum temperature down to a numbing 1.5 degrees Celsius at the Ridge weather station in central Delhi. Only a few places in Rajasthan, including Vanasthali (1.7 degrees Celsius), Sikar (1 degree Celsius), Pilani (0.6 degree Celsius), and Churu (0 degree Celsius), recorded a lower minimum temperature.
For the last few days, a dense layer of fog has been persisting over northwest India and the adjoining central and eastern parts of the country, affecting road, rail, and air movement. On Saturday morning, dense fog lowered visibility to 25 metres at the Palam observatory, near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport.
With a minimum temperature of 2.2 degrees Celsius, Delhi was colder than Chamba (5.8 degrees), Dalhousie (8.3 degrees), Dharamshala (9.2 degrees), Shimla (7.8 degrees), Hamirpur (3.9 degrees), Manali (4 degrees), Kangra (5.6 degrees), Solan (3 degrees), Mussoorie (8.1 degrees) and Nainital (5.8 degrees).
(With inputs from PTI)
Copyright©2023 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today
