Cold wave, dense fog alert in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana: Flights delayed, trains cancelled; 10 points

IMD weather forecast: After a brief respite, a fresh spell of cold waves struck northwest India on Sunday. Dense to a very dense fog covered parts of the region. Similar weather conditions have been predicted over the northwestern part of the country during the next five days, the weather forecasting agency India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday.

On Sunday, dense fog engulfed parts of the country with a forecast suggesting lower temperatures might fall to 6 degrees Celsius.

- In Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad, mercury was down to a minimum temperature of 6 degrees Celsius, lowering visibility in many areas. A thick blanket of fog also engulfed Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain, resulting in reduced visibility, according to visuals shared by news agency ANI.

- In the past 24 hours, minimum temperatures were in the range of 5-8 degrees Celsius over many parts of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Very dense fog was observed over Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, West Bengal, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, and Tripura.

- The weather department has predicted dense to very dense fog over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar during the next five days. Dense fog is expected over Himachal and Uttarakhand during the next 3-4 days; West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura during the next two days, the IMD said.

- Due to northwesterly winds from the Himalayas over the plains of northwest India, minimum temperatures are very likely to fall by 2-4 degree Celsius over the northwest and adjoining central India during the next two days.

- The department has predicted a cold wave over Himachal on January 1, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Rajasthan till January 4, and Delhi from January 3 to 4.

Cold wave alert for Punjab

- IMD has issued an orange alert for all the districts of Punjab for the next two days, and a yellow alert from 3 to 5 January. The department has also issued an orange alert for ten districts of Haryana and a yellow alert for seven districts.  

Flights delayed

Due to fog, flight operations were disrupted at some airports.

- IndiGo said bad weather might impact our operations to and from Delhi, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Pantnagar, Bareilly, Dhaka, and Agartala.

- SpiceJet said due to bad weather in Kanpur, all departures and arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected.

- Vistara in a tweet said due to poor visibility in Dhaka (DAC), arrivals and departures from Dhaka (DAC) are delayed with consequential impact across the network.

Trains cancelled

- The Indian Railways has cancelled 199 trains, diverted 4, and rescheduled 15 due to weather and other reasons.