Delhiites once again woke to a foggy morning and extreme cold on Saturday that also affected several rail operations. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast dense fog for the next five days, coupled with cold conditions for the next two days in north India.

The weather agency also reported a path of dense fog over the regions of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the morning with lower visibilities.

“Very dense fog conditions are reported over Uttar Pradesh and Bihar dense fog over Tripura at 0530 hrs IST of 28.01.2024. Visibilities reported are: Varanasi (Babatpur) and Purnea 25 m each Bahraich, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Sultanpur and Kailashahar 50 m each. Patna 200 m,” it said in a post on X.

News agency ANI reported that several trains, including Shram Shakti Express and New Delhi-Varanasi Kashi Vishwanath Express, were running late, leaving passengers stranded at the New Delhi Railway Station.

On Saturday, dense fog was recorded around the national capital region for over three hours, with the lowest visibility recorded at 100 metres and recorded a minimum temperature of 4.3 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season’s average.

Delhi’s air quality

Meanwhile, the city’s air quality improved on Sunday with, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 357 (very poor category) 450 in the Anand Vihar area as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at 7am. A day earlier, it was recorded at 450 (severe category).

Amid extreme cold conditions and worsen air quality, the residents complained of health issues like cough, cold, throat irritation, chest tightness, low oxygen level, burning sensation in the eyes, and high fever. “The symptoms like cough, cold, throat irritation, chest tightness, low oxygen level, burning sensation in the eyes, and even high fever tal are being seen in people,” Dr Suresh Kumar, Medical Director of Loknayak Jai Prakash Hospital said to news agency ANI.

Western disturbance to bring bouts of cold wave:

The weather agency also forecast that western disturbance would bring two bouts of cold wave in the western Himalayan region from Sunday and another from January 31 affecting the region and adjoining plains of northwest India. Mountain peaks in the western Himalayan region have so far remained noticeably bare this winter season

Snowfall in these places:

The weather department predicted snowfall over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand today while moderate to widespread rainfall or snowfall can be expected from January 29 until February 1.

“Light/moderate isolated to scattered rainfall/snowfall is very likely over Uttarakhand and light rainfall over Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, west Uttar Pradesh from January 31 to February 2,” the Met office said in a statement.

Fog led to road accidents in UP

Three people lost their lives in different road accidents due to fog in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Due to dense fog in the Shahjahanpur district, a tractor-trolley overturned under a culvert, due to which two farmers riding on it died on the spot, a police official said on Saturday. Meanwhile in Etah, an 18-year-old youth riding a bike died, while two others including his uncle, were injured after it hit an electric pole due to dense fog near ITI College

Dense fog, cold wave grip Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana

Dense fog was witnessed in several areas of Rajasthan on Saturday with Hanumangarh’s Sangaria recording as the coldest place with a minimum temperature of 3.1 degrees Celsius, while there was no let-up in the cold wave condition in Punjab and Haryana on Saturday with minimum temperatures staying below normal at several places.

(With inputs from agencies)