Delhi winters: Very dense fog reduces visibility at IGI Airport, over 15 flights diverted

The visibility levels dropped to 25 metres at the Palam observatory, near the IGI Airport in Delhi, and the Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station.

Image: Twitter

Delhi saw cold wave conditions for the fifth consecutive day on Monday even as very dense fog lowered visibility to just 25 metres, hitting road, rail and air traffic movement, officials said. Around 15 flights were delayed and one flight was diverted due to bad weather, officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport said. A few flights were also diverted due to low visibility at the India's biggest international airport in the national capital.

The visibility levels dropped to 25 metres at the Palam observatory, near the IGI Airport, and the Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Delhi | Flights delayed due to severe fog & cold in the national capital. Visuals from Delhi Airport.

Visibility is very low at the airport and the weather here is very cold, say passengers at Delhi airport pic.twitter.com/9gYQVVqZK0— ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2023

Satellite images showed a fog layer extending from Punjab and adjoining northwest Rajasthan to Bihar across Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Cold wave conditions persisted in the capital for the fifth day on the trot though minimum temperatures rose marginally.

The Safdarjung observatory logged a minimum temperature of 3.8 degrees Celsius as against 1.9 degrees on Sunday. The weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge recorded a minimum temperature of 3.6 degrees, 3.2 degrees and 3.3 degrees.

With PTI inputs