New Delhi: Thick blanket of fog on Monday enveloped Delhi as air, rail, and road traffic remained adversely affected.
The minimum temperature on Monday plunged to 4.2 degrees Celsius in the national capital, the coldest December 22 in the last five years and also the lowest this season, even as a thick blanket of fog disrupted normal life in the city.
People did not get respite from the fog as it virtually paralysed the transport system. The Regional Met Office predicted no significant change in the coming days and said that the winter chill would continue unabated for the next fortnight.
“Brrrrr…8 degrees Celsius recorded at 10am in Delhi. Driving to office in the fog was fun though,†tweeted Sarthak (@spiritualghost), a twitterati.
According to the MeT department, the minimum temperature of 4.2 degrees Celsius was four notches below normal. On Sunday, the morning temperature had settled two points below the season’s average at 6.4 degrees Celsius.
Dense fog enveloped the national capital Monday morning with visibility dropping to zero in the early hours. However, visibility improved to 150 metres by 9am.
Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan took to twitter to post about the dense fog in the capital. “T 1711 – Just reached fog and smog ridden Delhi .. 9 degrees .. bracing .. and stuck in traffic .. a commonality in Al metros .. but love it,†tweeted Big B.
Low visibility hit flight and train operations as a number of flights were delayed at the IGI Airport. Several incoming and outgoing trains too were running late.
Almost 70 north-bound trains coming from Kolkata, Ranchi, Bhubneshwar, Sealdah, Magadh, were running late by several hours due to the dense fog.
Train drivers have been instructed to drive at a slow speed during the foggy condition.
Cold weather conditions continued to prevail at most places in Punjab and Haryana as well, where fog threw normal life out of gear.
Karnal in Haryana was the coldest place in the state recording a minimum temperature of 3.6 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal.
Hisar also reeled under cold conditions recording a low of 5.6 deg C, one notch below normal, while biting cold also prevailed at Narnaul, where the low settled at 4 deg C, down two notches.
In the desert state of Rajasthan, cold conditions continued unabated as  flight operations and trains services were hit due to dense fog which also threw normal life out of gear.
An official of the Sanganer airport said that ten flights were delayed due to fog at Sanganer airport.
Four international flights to Dubai, Maskat, Sharjah and six domestic flights were delayed and rescheduled due to the fog, he said.
Also, 23 trains under the North-Western Railway were running late and 12 trains reached their destinations late, according to a NWR spokesman.