NEW DELHI: A brutal cold wave swept Delhi on Thursday with the minimum temperature dropping to the season's lowest of three degrees Celsius.
Most people kept indoors and turned to space heaters and cups of hot tea to keep themselves warm as frosty winds from the snow-clad Himalayas barrelled through the plains, including the national capital.
A blinding layer of dense fog over north India, including Delhi, caused major inconvenience to commuters. The visibility levels were 50 metres around 5:30 am.
The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, logged a minimum temperature of three degrees Celsius as against 4.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and 8.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.
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The weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge recorded minimum temperatures of 2.8 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees Celsius and 2.8 degrees Celsius, respectively. The cold snap is expected to strain power grids and pose challenges to the homeless.
The meteorological office had on Wednesday issued an orange alert for Delhi-NCR for Thursday and Friday.
The India Meteorological Department uses four colour codes for weather warnings -- green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).