By IANS,
New Delhi: Delhi experienced its coldest day in five years as the minimum temperature dropping to 2.9 degrees Celsius, five degrees below average, early on Christmas day Sunday. The dense fog in the morning disrupted train services but flights were not affected.
“There is a heavy backlog in trains, leading to many delays and rescheduling of trains,” a Northern Railways spokesperson said.
“As many as 30 trains were running late and 10 services were rescheduled in the capital, where dense fog reduced visibility to 400 metres in the morning,” the official said.
He added that as a precautionary measure, 31 long distance trains have been cancelled till Jan 31 and 27 suburban trains have been cancelled till Dec 31 due to dense fog that prevails in the region during this period.
A Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) spokesman told IANS that no flights had been affected Sunday.
The weatherman has predicted the chill and fog to prevail in the days ahead.
“The chill and fog will prevail in the days ahead. The cold north-westerly winds from the Himalayas coupled with the heavy fog cover that obstructed the sunrays are causing this chill,” an official at the India Meteorological department (IMD) told IANS.
The maximum temperature was recorded at 20.3 degrees, a notch below average for this time of the season. The humidity levels wavered between a high of 92 and a low of 27 percent.
The bone-freezing chill forced many to wrapped in layers of woollens. For the shelter less pavement dwellers, the only solace was bonfires under trees and in open parks.
“The maximum and minimum temperatures Monday are expected to hover around 21 and 2 degrees Celsius,” added the official.
On Saturday, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 20 and 3.3 degrees respectively.
According to IMD, the record for the lowest minimum for the month of December is 1.1 degree Celsius recorded on Dec 26 in 1945.