Over 20 trains to Delhi delayed as fog engulfs north India

A layer of fog covered the Indo-Gangetic plains and extended to the northeast on Friday, causing reduced visibility and impacting rail movement. The schedules of 23 trains arriving in Delhi were affected, news agency PTI reported citing railway officials.

Satellite imagery revealed a layer of fog and low-level clouds over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and even patches over Odisha.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that visibility dropped to zero at Delhi's Palam observatory near the Indira Gandhi International Airport.


At the Safdarjung Airport, visibility was limited to 200 meters, an IMD official told PTI.

Several other regions also experienced severe visibility issues. Amritsar in Punjab, Lucknow and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Purnia in Bihar, and Tezpur in Assam had visibility levels as low as 25-50 meters. Ambala in Haryana and Ganganagar in Rajasthan showed visibility of only 200 meters.

The IMD classifies visibility conditions as very dense fog (0-50 meters), dense fog (51-200 meters), moderate fog (201-500 meters), and shallow fog (501-1,000 meters).

The IMD had predicted on Thursday that dense to very dense fog will persist during morning hours in parts of northwest India over the next five days.

Although the northern plains experienced some relief on Wednesday and Thursday as the sun broke through the thin layer of fog, chilly winds continued to keep temperatures low.

Since December 30-31, cold day to severe cold day conditions have prevailed over many parts of north India.

A cold day is defined as when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or lower, and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 notches below normal. A severe cold day occurs when the maximum temperature is at least 6.5 notches below normal.

The foggy conditions have not only disrupted rail services but also affected visibility for travelers and commuters.