New Delhi fog disrupts air and rail travel

Low temperatures and fog in New Delhi hit air and rail movement on Tuesday morning as a cold wave gripped the Indian capital with minimum temperatures dipping as low as 5.6 degrees Celsius (42 F).

With visibility of just 50 metres (164 ft) in some areas, Delhi Airport took to Twitter to alert passengers that flights not equipped to operate in such conditions "may get affected".

Local media reported that 15 trains to Delhi were also running late because of fog.


The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a bulletin that "dense and very dense fog" was likely to continue over some parts of the city over the next 24 hours due to light wind and high moisture levels.

"Its intensity and spread (is) likely to reduce thereafter," the IMD said.

The IMD also forecast cold wave conditions in some areas over the northwest states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi during the next two days.

A cold wave is declared in the plains of India when the minimum temperature dips to 4 degrees Celsius or falls 4.5 degrees Celsius below normal to 10 degrees Celsius or below.