Delhi wakes up to biting cold after coldest winter morning, flights disrupted as dense fog shrouds capital

DELHI woke up to a chilly winter morning and shallow fog on Friday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for a cold wave. For the sixth consecutive day on 16 January, cold wave conditions persisted as mercury plunged significantly across the city.

Palam weather station reported a minimum temperature of 2.3°C on Thursday, followed by Ayanagar, where mercury dropped to 2.7°C. Furthermore, Safdarjung, the primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 2.9°C, while Lodhi Road logged 3.4°C.

In the Safdarjung area, mercury dropped 4.5 degrees below normal. This marks Safdarjung's lowest minimum temperature in January in three years, as the mercury had fallen to 1.4°C on 16 January 2023.

On 15 January, Delhi registered its coldest morning of this season at 2.9°C. IMD has forecast, “Mainly clear sky becoming partly cloudy sky towards evening. Cold wave conditions at isolated places. Moderate fog at many places with dense fog at isolated places during morning hours. The maximum and minimum temperatures over Delhi are likely to be in the range of 21°C to 23°C and 04°C to 06°C, respectively.”

The weather office suggested that the minimum temperature will be 3.1 to 5°C below normal today, and the maximum temperature will also be 3.1 to 5°C below normal.

Predicting cold wave conditions in neighbouring states, the IMD, in its latest weather bulletin, said, "Cold wave conditions very likely in some/many parts of in isolated pockets Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh & Delhi and Odisha on 16th & 17th; Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh & Jharkhand on 16th January."

IMD warned of another fresh Western disturbance, likely to impact weather conditions across Northwest India from 19 January 2026.

Delhi's fog status

Dense fog blanketed the capital city on Thursday and disrupted flight operations at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport due to low visibility, which was reported to be around 50 metres at 7:00 am. However, visibility improved today and was recorded to be around 800 metres at 6:00 am.

IndiGo also issued a travel advisory that said, “Low visibility and fog over #Delhi, #Chandigarh, #Amritsar and #Jammu may impact flight schedules. We are closely monitoring the weather and doing our best to get you where you need to be, safely and smoothly.”

Delhi AQI today

Delhi's battle with ‘very poor’ air quality continues as the national capital recorded a 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 345, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. Out of 30 monitoring stations, 33 reported “very poor” AQI, while the remaining registered “poor” air quality, except for Pusa, which witnessed 401 AQI, falling in the “severe” range.

Pollution sources within the city were led mainly by transport at 13.92%, according to the Delhi Decision Support System (DSS). This was followed by Delhi and peripheral industries at 11.45%, residential emissions at 3.38%, construction at 1.78% and waste burning at 1.21%.