People ride a horse-driven cart on a cold foggy winter morning in New Delhi on January 5, 2024. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
NEW DELHI: Cold wave conditions on Friday gripped several states in north India, including the capital territory of Delhi, officials said.
The dense fog prevalent in several parts led to disruptions in both air and rail traffic.
On Friday morning, Delhi's primary weather station in Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 9.4 Celsius degrees, which is colder than the normal average by 2.5 Celsius degrees.
"Cold day to severe cold day conditions likely to continue over some parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Rajasthan during next two days and significant decrease thereafter," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. "Dense to very dense fog likely to continue over northwest India during next two days and gradually decrease thereafter."
The cold wave Friday delayed nearly two dozen trains and impacted flight operations.
Officials said 22 trains destined to or passing through Delhi were running late due to the foggy conditions, leaving passengers frustrated at the stations.
Some trains were delayed by more than four hours.
"Flight operations to and from Jaipur, Patna, and Amritsar are impacted due to the bad weather," the private airline IndiGo said in a statement.
The IMD said dense fog may affect some airports, highways and railway routes in the affected areas, and there are chances of tripping of power lines in the very dense fog routes.
It added that long time exposure to dense fog may cause respiratory problems for people having asthma bronchitis and other lung-related health problems.
