Northern India shivers in cold snap, dense fog
New Delhi, Jan 10 (EFE).- Large parts of northern India remained in the grips of “severe” cold weather on Tuesday, which this week forced dozens of flight delays and forced the closure of schools in and around New Delhi.
Temperatures in the capital plummeted to under 2 degrees Celsius in recent days, as the city was blanketed in thick fog on Tuesday, hampering transport services in the city.
India’s meteorology department said that the “severe cold” conditions, which have been affecting much of northern India for several days, were expected to continue into Wednesday.
The city government in Delhi has urged all private schools to remain closed until January 15 due to the cold wave.
The frigid weather has been accompanied by “dense to very dense” fog which has covered several states in northern India.
On Monday, visibility in New Delhi was a mere 200 meters in the early morning hours, bringing traffic in the city of over 20 million people to a standstill.
Foggy conditions, exacerbated by alarming pollution levels, are frequent during the winter months in north India.
Visibility can drop to a few meters, especially during the first hour of the morning, which affects air transport as well as rail and road traffic.
At 422, the concentration of PM2.5 in New Delhi is more than 28 times higher than the recommended limit by the WHO air quality guidelines. EFE
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