Delhi was enveloped in a thick blanket of fog on Wednesday as a sign of the arrival of winter with reduced visibility and a dip in the temperature.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport stood at ‘zero’ meters while it hovered between 125 meters to 500 meters at the same time.
The visibility at several airports in the northern part of the country dropped below a thousand meters at 5 am with Amritsar and Hindon airports recording zero meters and Chandigarh airport recording 200 meters among others, it added. However, the visibility later improved after sunrise after causing a diversion of flights in the morning.
Airport officials in Delhi confirmed that at least ten flights were diverted with nine to Jaipur and one to Lucknow. In a post on X, the Airport Department stated, “Landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected and the passengers are advised to contact respective airlines for timely updates”.
The Weather Department added that the minimum temperature in the last 24 hours stood at 17 degrees Celsius while it was recorded at 17.9 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.
The national capital witnessed a significant change in the weather in the form of intensification of fog conditions in the morning with dense to very dense fog over the city, it added. “With a blanket of fog covering the city for a major part of the day, sunlight remained cut off leading to a fall in the maximum temperature,” the Weather Department added.
It has also predicted a gradual fall in the minimum temperatures by 2-3 degrees Celsius over north and northwest India in the next five days.
The maximum and minimum temperature in the city is in the range of 30-33 degrees Celsius and 14 -18 degrees Celsius respectively, IMD Stated.