Delhi cold wave: 120 flights affected due to dense fog, trains delayed; IMD says no relief till Jan 21 

Around 120 flights were delayed at Delhi's IGI Airport due to heavy fog and reduced visibility in Delhi and surrounding areas. Delhi Airport has reported delays in flight operations affecting around 120 flights, both (domestic and international) arrivals and departures, due to dense fog. According to news agency ANI, the minimum temperature in Delhi dropped to 4 degrees Celsius at 7 AM today.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that very dense fog conditions will continue to prevail over North India for the next four days and there will be no relief till January 21 (Sunday). The weather agency also mentioned that Delhi and North India will continue to experience severe cold wave conditions and severe cold day conditions.

IMD Scientist Soma Sen said the prevailing weather conditions in Delhi and North India will persist with some changes in the minimum temperature on Tuesday.

"In Delhi and in North India, we are not expecting much change in the minimum temperature. Maybe a one-degree rise is likely because of the sunny skies, but foggy conditions will persist. Low cloud conditions may also continue for the neighbouring regions, because of which Haryana and Punjab will see severe cold day conditions for the next two to three days. We are not expecting any sudden change in either temperature or cold conditions... The intensity of the cold will gradually decrease, which is a seasonal effect," IMD Scientist Soma Sen said.

The Flight Information Display System (FIDS) at Delhi Airport has reported that a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures, and 3 international arrivals, have been canceled and are not operating. These cancellations are due to fog and other operational reasons affecting flights to and from Delhi Airport.
 

On Sunday, as many as 508 outbound flights from the IGI airport were delayed while 87 were cancelled, as per data from flight tracking service Flightradar24. As for inbound flights, 414 were delayed while 42 were cancelled. Dense fog hit operations on Monday too. On Tuesday, 30 flights were cancelled. 

Train services were also severely affected in Delhi due to dense fog on Wednesday. Passengers were seen stranded in the cold at the New Delhi Railway Station (NDRS) due to the cold.