Dense fog & cold wave persist in north India, affecting flights, trains

VISIBILITY ZERO AT TIMES

Low visibility and biting cold conditions disrupted life across northern and eastern India on Sunday. Dense fog enveloped the national capital, Delhi, impacting flight and train operations for the third consecutive day, while the Jharkhand government announced the closure of schools due to a severe cold wave sweeping the state.

In Delhi, dense fog reduced visibility to zero at times, grounding several flights and delaying 51 trains. An official from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that "compared to Saturday's nine-hour zero visibility spell, Palam experienced a relatively shorter duration of 3.5 hours of zero visibility on Sunday."

The maximum temperature in the Capital settled at 18.6 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was recorded at 9.4 degrees Celsius. The IMD forecast a generally cloudy sky with light rain and thunderstorms on Monday morning.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the mercury neared the freezing point in many areas as the region received fresh snowfall. Srinagar, the summer capital, recorded a low of minus 2.5 degrees Celsius, with snow blanketing most parts of the Valley for the second consecutive day.