Extreme cold, dense fog continue to disrupt life in Delhi, North India

New Delhi [India], January 31 (ANI): The national capital as well as the entire North Indian belt continued to be in the grip of severe cold and fog on Wednesday, with the minimum temperature in Delhi recorded at 10°C.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), very dense fog was reported in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi while moderate fog was observed in isolated pockets of West Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

“The INSAT 3DR Image of 0530 hrs IST shows Dense Fog layer over South Punjab, Haryana & Delhi seen as white patch overlapped by Medium/High Clouds in Red Patches,” read a post on the IMD’s official X handle on Wednesday.

The central weather forecasting agency informed further that Delhi, which has been experiencing freezing cold over the last few weeks, recorded its lowest maximum temperature and second-lowest minimum temperature in the last 13 years this January.

A thick layer of fog enveloped the national capital as the city woke up another bitterly cold morning on Wednesday.

The weather agency predicted a wet spell over the Western Himalayan Region and adjoining plains till February 4, with the intensity peaking on Wednesday and Thursday.

“Light/moderate fairly widespread to widespread rainfall/snowfall very likely over Jammu,

Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan & Muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand

during next 6 days (30th January to 04th February) and decrease significantly thereafter,” the IMD posted on X.

In Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district on Wednesday, trees and houses were seen covered under a blanket of snow as it received fresh snowfall.

Met officials, meanwhile, forecast isolated heavy rainfall or snowfall over Kashmir Valley, Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday and Thursday.

It also predicted fresh snowfall in Devbhoomi–Uttarakhand–on Wednesday.

Strong surface winds of the order at 30-40 kmph are likely over Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi on Wednesday, according to the IMD.

Later, on Wednesday, the maximum temperature in Delhi is expected to go as high as 24°C while for the better part of the day, the mercury is likely to hover around the 11°C mark, the weather office informed, adding that residents in the national capital will also experience breeze at a speed of 3.66.

Meanwhile, visibility issues were reported from across the national capital as a thick fog descended on the city.

Visuals from multiple locations in Delhi showed locals on streets gathering around bonfires to keep warm.

Speaking to the ANI, a resident in the Red Fort area said commuters were facing hassles as buses were running late and, in some parts, public vehicles were hard to come by because of the bone-chilling cold outside.

“We are lighting bonfires to keep ourselves warm. I fear that this cold might persist well into February. Due to the heavy fog and icy cold, customer footfalls to my shack have come down to a trickle,” a shopkeeper said.