Delhi and the NCR region are likely to experience a temperature dip and cold wave from Sunday, thanks to cold northeasterly winds from the snow-covered mountains that have already started blowing towards the plains.
As per the expert forecast, a cold wave will hit several areas of Delhi till Wednesday, bringing the temperature to around 3 degrees Celsius.
The India Meteorological Department has stated that the western disturbance which helped bring up the temperature across north and northwest India, a welcome relief from the cold spell, has begun to retreat. This will cause the mercury to plunge, like in the days before the western disturbance.
"This is due to a layer of dense fog persisting over the Indo-Gangetic plains for the past 10 to 11 days and a large gap between two western disturbances that allowed frosty winds from snow-clad mountains to blow in for a longer-than-usual period," an IMD official told PTI.
The situation was slightly better on Saturday as the minimum temperature hovered around 10.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, and the maximum temperature was at 18.4 degrees.
Flights and trains affected
Several flights were delayed as the national capital reeled under fog. After visibility dropped, as many as six flights, scheduled to depart from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), was delayed, informed airport authorities. These include Delhi-Riyadh, Delhi-Shimla-Kullu, Delhi-Varanasi, Delhi-Dharamshala-Srinagar, Delhi-Shimla- Dharamshala, Delhi-Dehradun.
Many train services too were affected after the Railway informed that as many as 20 trains were running late in North India due to the dense fog.
Punjab, Haryana freeze
Besides Delhi, the temperatures have dropped in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat too as the icy cold winds from the North continue to hit these regions. Bathinda and Amritsar reeled under severe cold as minimum temperatures hovered close to the freezing point. Bathinda recorded a low of 0.6 degrees while the minimum temperature in Amritsar settled at 1.2 degrees.
The maximum temperature in Chandigarh settled at 13 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature was at 11.4 degrees.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded a maximum temperature of 14 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature in Sirsa settled at 17.5 degrees Celsius, 15.5 degrees in Hisar, 14.8 degrees in Rohtak, 14.7 degrees in Bhiwani.
Snow in Himachal, Jammu
The situation in Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir too is no different as snow fell on both these states. In Himachal Pradesh, Manali received 23 cm of snow followed by 16 cm each in Khadrala and Shillaro. The IMD has predicted dry weather and dense fog in the region till Tuesday.
Jammu and Kashmir saw temperatures plunging below the freezing point as Srinagar recorded a low of minus 0.1 degrees Celsius on Friday night.
On Saturday, three avalanches hit Ganderbal and Bandipora districts of Jammu and Kashmir, but there was no loss of life, officials said. They said avalanche warnings had been issued for 12 districts following moderate to heavy snowfall on Friday.
(With inputs from agencies)