NEW DELHI: The national capital and nearby areas were shrouded in a thick layer of fog on Saturday, disrupting flight services and road traffic as several north Indian states continued to reel under a cold wave. Over 220 flights were delayed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport due to low runway visibility.
As per IMD, light rain was witnessed in parts of Delhi on Saturday evening as the city recorded a low of 7.7 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The sky is likely to remain cloudy as per the latest forecast.
The maximum temperature settled at 17 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s average, the IMD said.
The weather agency had earlier predicted that conditions would remain challenging over the weekend, with a cloudy sky and light rain accompanied by thunderstorms.
“Satellite images showed cloud cover over Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. It is expected to move towards Delhi later today, bringing rain,” the IMD had said.
On Friday, too, over 250 flights were delayed at the Delhi airport, and 26 trains were running late across several states in the region, according to officials. Three people were injured after seven vehicles collided on a highway in UP’s Hapur due to dense fog.
As far as the flight operations were concerned, the Delhi Airport warned in an update around 6 am on Saturday that “while landings and take offs (will) continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested
to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information.”