Rain Alert: The minimum temperature in Delhi recorded a slight increase on Friday morning, reaching 11 degrees Celsius.
Rain Alert: Delhi and its surrounding areas were engulfed in dense fog on Saturday morning, affecting flights and rail services. Meanwhile, cold wave continues to wreak havoc in the national capital. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert, predicting thunderstorms and rain during the day. The IMD has also warned of a drop in the maximum temperature by at least three degrees and has also predicted cloudy skies throughout the day.
Dense fog at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) reduced visibility, resulting in delays of over 100 flights. The airport has issued an advisory urging passengers to contact their airlines for accurate information on flight timings. Train services were also similarly affected, with delays reported on several major routes.
The IMD has also issued a fog warning for Delhi and adjoining areas, predicting dense to very dense fog (visibility less than 50 metres) in some areas of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The weather department has predicted moderate to dense fog at most places and very dense fog at isolated places in the morning.
Delhi recorded a marginal rise in the minimum temperature on Friday morning, reaching 11 degrees Celsius. On January 9, Delhi’s temperature had witnessed a sharp drop. It had reached 6.4 degrees Celsius at 5:30 am. Cold wave and bad weather conditions continue to prevail in the city. For the past few days, the temperature in the mornings had remained between 8 degrees Celsius and 11 degrees Celsius.
The air quality in Delhi deteriorated further on Saturday, reaching ‘severe’ levels. During this time, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) has reached 401. The AQI scale puts a score between 0-50 as ‘good’, 51-100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 as ‘moderate’, 201-300 as ‘poor’, 301-400 as ‘very poor’ and a score between 401-500 as ‘severe’.
Delhi airport tweeted to assure that flights are operating normally, but warned that flights not following Category III (CAT III) procedures may be delayed. “Passengers are advised to contact the airline for flight details,” the airport said. In an update around 6 am, the airport further warned that landings and take-offs are continuing, but some flights may be affected due to visibility concerns.
