A thick blanket of fog enveloped the national capital on Saturday, causing zero visibility for an unprecedented nine consecutive hours.
This marked the longest such spell of the winter season, lasting from 11:30 PM on Friday to 8:30 AM the next day, according to the weather department.
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The dense fog severely disrupted transportation. Several trains, including the Vande Bharat, Jammu Rajdhani, AP Express, Grand Trunk, and other superfast, express, and mail trains, were delayed due to poor visibility.
Air traffic in Delhi was also significantly affected. According to Flightradar24, by 4 PM, nearly 335 flights experienced delays of over 45 minutes, including around 230 departures and 105 arrivals. Additionally, 41 flights were canceled, and 19 were diverted.
IndiGo Airlines updated passengers about flight delays through a post on X, stating:
“6ETravelAdvisory: Dense fog continues to affect visibility in Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Srinagar, Guwahati, and Patna, even during daytime hours. We understand that the resulting delays and changes to your travel schedule may be inconvenient.”
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that Delhi’s minimum temperature settled at 7.8°C, while the maximum reached 20°C. The department issued a yellow alert for Sunday, warning of dense fog in the morning and evening hours.
Furthermore, the IMD predicted heavy rainfall and snowfall over Jammu and Kashmir on January 5, Himachal Pradesh on January 5-6, and light to moderate rainfall in Uttarakhand on January 6. Dense fog is expected to persist across parts of North India late Saturday night through Sunday morning, with gradual improvement thereafter.
As temperatures dropped further, residents of Delhi gathered around bonfires for warmth, while many sought refuge in night shelters. Similar foggy and cold conditions were reported across several North Indian states on Saturday morning.
