Delhi freezes as mercury drops to 4 degrees Celsius; IMD issues orange, red alert for dense fog, cold wave conditions

Delhiites on Wednesday woke up to another cold day as the national capital froze at a minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius. Delhi was also covered in a thick shroud of dense fog, leading to poor visibility across many parts of the national capital. Delhi Airport has reported delays in flight operations due to the fog, affecting the arrivals and departures of around 120 flights, as per the Delhi Airport Flight Information Display System (FIDS). 

A total of 53 flights including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and 3 international arrivals from and to Delhi airport have been cancelled due to fog. Airlines such as SpiceJet and Vistara also updated passengers about the likely flight delays due to poor visibility in Delhi. 

SpiceJet said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that due to expected poor visibility levels in the national capital, departures/arrivals from  Delhi, Amritsar, Srinagar, Jammu, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Tirupati, Puducherry, Bangalore, Kandla, Guwahati, Patna, Kolkata, Bagdogra, Ladakh, Shirdi, Jaisalmer, Dharamshala, Chennai and Darbhanga could get affected. It also advised passenger to check their flight status before leaving for the airport. 

Vistara also said in a post on X that arrivals and departures could be affected due to dense fog and poor visibility in Delhi while advising customers to check the flight status before leaving for the airport. 

Meanwhile, Delhi experienced another cold day on Tuesday, with temperatures of 4.8 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung and 7.2 degrees Celsius at Palam. Visibility at Palam Airport dropped to 0 m at 0730 hrs IST, while 50 m visibility was reported at Safdarjung Airport at the same time. 

The fog caused delays in nearly 30 flights from Delhi and 30 trains, with 17 flights being cancelled. The coldest morning this winter was recorded on January 15, with the minimum temperature dropping to 3.3°C at Safdarjung, Delhi's official weather observatory. 

At Lodhi Road, another weather monitoring station in Delhi, the minimum temperature was recorded at 3.1°C. On Monday, 'zero' visibility was recorded for the first time in Safdarjung, Palam, Chandigarh, Ambala, Patiala, Lucknow, Bareilly, Bahraich, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Tezpur and Sri Ganganagar. 

Furthermore, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has alerted of very dense fog and cold wave conditions in Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana. An orange alert is in effect for Delhi on Wednesday and Thursday, while a red alert has been issued for Punjab and Haryana for Wednesday, followed by an orange alert on Thursday. 

The IMD alert also states that disruptions due to fog and cold wave conditions are likely at airports, highways and railway routes in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, north Rajasthan and north Madhya Pradesh. 

The fog could lead to difficult driving conditions and slower journey times, potentially resulting in road traffic collisions if precautionary measures are not taken.

The weather office classifies fog as 'shallow' when the visibility is upto 500 metres and as 'moderate' when the visibility is upto 200 metres. 'Dense' fog occurs when the visibility stands upto 50 metres whereas it is categorised as 'very dense' when the visibility hits below 50 metres. 

Also Read: More flight, train delays likely as IMD issues fog, cold wave warning for Delhi, red alert for Punjab, Haryana