Delhiites woke up to a chilly morning on Friday as the minimum temperature in the National Capital was recorded at 5.3 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature was recorded at the Safdarjung Observatory in Delhi.

The Met Department said that in Delhi, the minimum temperature recorded at Palam was 7.9 degrees Celsius, Lodhi Road 7.3 degrees Celsius, Aya Nagar 5.6 degrees Celsius; Ridge (Civil lines) 5.3 degrees Celsius, Najafgarh 9.1 degrees Celsius while Pitampura, Akshardham’s Sports Complex and Mayur Vihar recorded the minimum temperature of 10, 10, and 8.7 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature recorded the National Capital Region (NCR) was 7.6 degrees Celsius in Gurgaon; 9.4 degrees Celsius in Faridabad and 8.0 degrees Celsius Ghaziabad.

Cold wave continued to sweep northern parts of the country while the Indo-Gangetic plains, including Delhi, remained engulfed by dense fog for the fifth consecutive day on Friday.

Parts of North India, including Delhi, witnessed cold wave conditions with dense to very dense fog observed over Punjab, Haryana, northwest Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar for the second morning on the trot on Friday morning, the IMD said.

“Dense to Very Dense Fog conditions are likely to continue over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh during next 48 hours and decrease in intensity & spread thereafter,” the IMD said in a tweet.

For the fourth day in a row, Punjab’s Bathinda remained enveloped in fog with the visibility dropping below 10 meters this morning. However, the biting cold conditions are likely to continue in the said regions for the next two days, IMD said.

Around 21 trains were delayed due to the fog and low visibility.

According to an IMD official, due to moisture and light winds at lower tropospheric levels over Indo-Gangetic plains, very dense fog in many/most pockets is very likely over Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in night/morning hours during the next 48 hours.

“Dense fog in isolated pockets is also very likely over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, north Rajasthan, Bihar, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Tirpura for the next 2-3 days,” said the official.

A drop in temperature has been also recorded in states of North India, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar.

“Due to dry north/northwesterly winds from Himalayas over plains of northwest India, cold wave conditions are very likely in isolated pockets over Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan during December 24 to 26,” said the official.

“Cold day to severe cold day conditions are also very likely over Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the next two days,” predicted the IMD.

Intense cold wave swept Ladakh and Kashmir as the 40-day long period of harsh winter cold known as ‘Chillai Kalan’ entered its third day.

In the J&K union territory, Srinagar had minus 4.8, Jammu had 6.3 degree Celsius.

In Ladakh region, Kargil had minus 13.1 and Leh minus 13.8 as the minimum temperature.