Wintry nights... after grey, chilly days

The Capital woke up to its coldest morning in over three weeks on Monday with temperatures dropping overnight to a low of 5.3°C, before foggy conditions made for yet another grey, chilly day with the daytime peak reaching no higher than 17.5°C.

The temperatures recorded on Monday came a day after what promised to be a respite from bitterly cold conditions - the maximum oscillated between 12.5°C15°C for four consecutive days last week, the daytime peak feeling little different from the nighttime lows, even though the latter was higher than usual.

While those conditions were concerning for their own reasons -- people are usually more exposed to the cold during the day when they are outdoors -- the conditions on Monday pose a threat to those exposed to the cold at night, such as the homeless.

The last time the minimum was lower than Monday's figure was on December 15 (4.9°C), but days were sunny then with a peak of 25.4°C.

"Clear skies on Sunday led to the decline in minimum temperature," said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD).