Thick fog blankets Delhi-NCR, causing flights and train service delays

A thick blanket of fog enveloped parts of Delhi-NCR early Friday morning, reducing visibility in several areas and causing disruptions to flights and train services.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said a layer of fog shrouded isolated pockets of Delhi and East Uttar Pradesh, while dense fog was also spotted in isolated areas of Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. The department added that visibility plunged to 500 metres in Delhi's Safdarjung and East Uttar Pradesh at 11:30 pm on Thursday night, while it dropped to just 50 metres in several parts of Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand.

#WATCH | Delhi shrouded in dense fog, visibility zero near India Gate pic.twitter.com/MrIgLBxJ9Q

— ANI (@ANI) February 2, 2024

On 1 February, Delhi saw a minimum temperature of 12.3 degrees Celsius, while the maximum reached 18.6.

The IMD has forecast ongoing light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms across various areas of Delhi-NCR. This comes after rainfall hit the city yesterday.

Delhi breathed its cleanest air in over a hundred days on Thursday as two days of precipitation and strong winds helped dissipate pollutants that had choked the city's atmosphere for several weeks.

Current AQI

The capital recorded a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 177 (moderate) at 4 pm on Thursday, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), over 200 points lower than 392 (very poor) on Wednesday and the lowest since 121 on 19 October last year.

Forecasts indicate Delhi's air quality is likely to remain "moderate" for the next few days, with the possibility of light rain over the weekend.

An AQI of 51 to 100 is classified as "satisfactory", between 101 and 200 as "moderate", between 201 and 300 as "poor", between 301 and 400 as "very poor" and over 400 as "severe".