At 3 degrees Celsius, Delhi logs January's lowest temperature in two years

A brutal cold wave swept Delhi on Thursday with the minimum temperature dropping to three degrees Celsius -- the lowest in January in two years -- making it cooler than several hill stations.

Most people kept indoors and turned to space heaters and cups of hot tea to keep themselves warm as frosty winds from the snow-clad Himalayas barrelled through the plains, including the national capital.

A blinding layer of dense fog over north India, including Delhi, caused major inconvenience to commuters. Visibility levels were 50 metres around 5.30 am.

According to the weather office, 'very dense' fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 metres is 'dense', 201 and 500 metres 'moderate', and 501 and 1,000 metres 'shallow'.

At least 12 trains were delayed by one-and-a-half to six hours and two rescheduled due to the foggy weather, a Railways spokesperson said.

Delhi airport has also issued a fog alert, saying low visibility procedures were in progress.

"All flight operations are presently normal. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information," the advisory read.

The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, logged a minimum temperature of three degrees Celsius against 4.4 degrees on Wednesday and 8.5 degrees on Tuesday.

Delhi's minimum temperature was lower than Dalhousie (4.9 degrees Celsius), Dharamshala (5.2 degrees), Kangra (3.2 degrees), Shimla (3.7 degrees), Dehradun (4.6 degrees), Mussoorie (4.4 degrees) and Nainital (6.2 degrees).

The weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ayanagar and Ridge in Delhi recorded minimum temperatures of 2.8 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees and 2.8 degrees, respectively.

The cold snap is expected to strain power grids and pose challenges to the homeless.

As people gathered around bonfires across the city, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee on Wednesday had advised residents' welfare associations, institutions and other establishments to provide electric heaters, blankets and warm clothes to security guards to prevent open burning of biomass that leads to pollution.

The Met office had on Wednesday issued an orange alert for Delhi-NCR for Thursday and Friday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) uses four colour codes for weather warnings -- green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).

Cold wave and cold day conditions are predicted to continue for the next 24 hours, though there will be some improvement under the influence of a fresh Western Disturbance that is likely to affect northwest India starting January 7, a senior IMD official said.

In the plains, the Met office declares a cold wave if the minimum temperature dips to four degrees Celsius or when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees or below and is 4.5 notches below the normal.

A severe cold wave is when the minimum temperature dips to two degrees Celsius or the departure from the normal is more than 6.4 degrees.

A cold day is when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degrees Celsius below the normal and the maximum temperature is at least 4.5 degrees below the normal. A severe cold day is when the maximum is 6.5 degrees Celsius or more below the normal.