Intense cold continued to batter the national capital with mercury recording below normal levels for the season on Saturday.

On Saturday, the maximum temperature in Delhi recorded 15.2 degrees Celsius, which was four notches lesser than season’s average, India Meteorological Department said.

In the morning hours, the minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 8.9 degrees Celsius, the weatherman said, while moderate fog continued to make things difficult for residents, amid the biting cold conditions.

Reportedly, several trains were running late due to the fog conditions prevailing in the northern region which affected the visibility during the early hours of the day.

For Sunday, the weather department has forecast moderate fog, and minimum, maximum temperatures to hover around 8 and 16 degrees Celsius respectively, the Met department added.

IMD has also forecast ‘Cold Day’ to ‘Severe Cold Day’ conditions likely to continue over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Rajasthan during next 2 days and significant decrease thereafter.

Meanwhile, residents of Delhi continued to brave the conditions taking to various measures, be it the winter attire, electric heaters, trying to stay indoors and the last resort for those without a roof on their head, bonfires.

Night shelters across the city continued to witness increased footfalls, while the government has also arranged for temporary shelters and sheds at places where homeless were more in number.

Some NGOs and kind hearted people also extended help to the homeless, offering blankets and packed food items.

Some days ago, the IMD had suggested a likelihood of cold wave conditions across several isolated pockets of northern region between January 5- 11.

Apart from the difficult weather conditions, Delhi continued to fight the air pollution situation as the city’s average air quality continued to reel under the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday.

Delhi’s AQI on Saturday was recorded at 320, according to the Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB).

Meanwhile, According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s (IITM) daily bulletin on air quality, “The air quality is likely to remain in Very Poor category from 07.01.2024 to 08.01.2024. The air quality is likely to improve significantly but remain in lower end of Very Poor category on 09.01.2024. The outlook for subsequent 6 Days: The air quality is likely to remain in the Poor to Very Poor category.”

The IITM has also said that wind speed is likely to increase in Delhi on Sunday and Monday, and likely to reach 16 km/hr on January 9.