Delhi-NCR weather update: Cold wave continues to grip national capital; IMD issues yellow alert

Delhi's temperature plummeted to 7.4°C with heavy fog. IMD predicts further drop to 5°C by Friday. Yellow alert issued for cold wave and dense fog.  Read more for detailed forecast.

As the lowest temperature fell to 7.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported heavy fog in certain areas of Delhi. The meteorological service predicted that the lowest temperature will decrease on Tuesday and reach 5 degrees Celsius by Friday.

In certain locations, the weather service also forecasted chilly days with clear sky. Most locations were also predicted to have smog or mild fog, with isolated locations probably experiencing dense fog in the morning.

The IMD has issued a yellow alert for Friday and Saturday, with maximum and minimum temperatures likely to hover around 16 degrees Celsius and 8 degrees Celsius, respectively.

According to the IMD's seven-day projection, Delhi's lowest temperature is expected to start to decline on Wednesday and may even drop as low as 5 degrees Celsius by Friday. Smog or mild fog is anticipated to predominate in most places, although cold day conditions are predicted to prevail in isolated spots.

Due to strong winds, Delhi was quite chilly on Tuesday. But compared to other days, visibility was somewhat better, and there was no really thick fog. The city's main meteorological station, Safdarjung Observatory, reported a minimum temperature of 10.5 degrees Celsius, which is 3.6 degrees above average, and a high temperature of 16.2 degrees Celsius, which is 2.8 degrees below normal. There was a range of 87% to 92% relative humidity.

Thick fog blanketed Delhi during the early hours, reducing visibility to 150 meters and causing delays to 25 trains. At Palam, visibility improved from 150 meters in dense fog to 700 meters in shallow fog by 8:30 am, while Safdarjung recorded a minimum visibility of 500 meters.