A thick blanket of fog has been covering various parts of North India, significantly lowering visibility and dropping temperatures, thus creating both train and flight disruptions. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport saw its visibility drop to zero, thus causing a delay of 202 flights.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 16 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal, and a minimum of 7.6 degrees Celsius over the past 24 hours. The capital is expected to experience foggy conditions until January 8, with light rain anticipated on January 6. As of Friday morning, the temperature stood at 9.6 degrees Celsius, marking the fifth consecutive cold day for the National Capital.
The weather conditions at Palam Airport worsened by 8 AM, reporting zero visibility, while the Safdarjung Airport recorded just 50 meters of visibility. Notably, this station does not have commercial flights.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported that the Air Quality Index at the Lodhi Road station was 309, which they classified as ‘Very Poor’.
Several airlines, including SpiceJet, IndiGo, and Air India, reported operational disruptions. Average delays for arriving flights were six minutes, while for departures, it was 47 minutes, according to FlightRadar24. SpiceJet said that flights to and from Amritsar and Guwahati were most affected due to adverse weather conditions. IndiGo issued a travel advisory, warning passengers traveling through Delhi, Amritsar, Lucknow, Bengaluru, and Guwahati.
Passengers are advised to check flight schedules while planning their journeys, with airlines warning that further cancellations may occur if visibility fails to improve.
Train services are not being left behind and many trains from Delhi have already been delayed due to heavy fog. At least 24 trains have been delayed due to weather-related issues. Ayodhya Express received the same amount of delay of four hours and the Gorakhdham Express arrived late by over two hours. Bihar Kranti Express was also delayed for more than three hours in total, so was Shram Shakti Express.
Dense fog is likely to continue over Delhi, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Amritsar, and Guwahati on Friday. The India Meteorological Department has issued Nowcast warnings of dense to very dense fog at places such as Delhi, Rajasthan’s Kota, Bundi, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Churu, Sri Ganganagar, and Tonk, while Punjab’s Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, and Kapurthala, and Haryana’s Kurukshetra, Ambala, Panchkula, and Yamunanagar will also have dense to very dense fog. Light rain and snow are forecast in parts of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
A “cool day” was defined as that day when, on the least cold day minimum temperature was observed below 10 degrees C and maximum below 4.5 degrees the normal for a given time period. Responding to the sharp cold wave, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration has ordered the closing down of all the district schools until further notice. The Met has forecasted a low of 8 degrees Celsius for Friday.
