Dense fog and chilly conditions made a comeback in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) as it recorded the season's coldest day at 4 degree Celsius on Friday morning. Delh-NCR, Haryana and eastern Uttar Pradesh have seen the mercury plunge over the past week after experiencing above normal temperatures for much of January. In fact, till January 15, the Capital had seen some of the warmest winter days in recent history.

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The reversal in weather conditions comes on the back of widespread rainfall across of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Haryana. Earlier in the month a feeble western disturbance, that brings in cold winds across northern states, was responsible for warmer temperatures. But Met experts said that cloudy conditions coupled, dense fog and strong northwesterly winds have helped to bring down both daytime and night time temperatures.

"Temperatures in the Delhi-NCT region are likely to remain below normal for days ahead. Continuous cloud cover and increase in moisture led to foggy conditions and it also prevented penetration of the sunlight. But in the days ahead, skies will be clearer that will cause reduction in fog," said BP Y adav, head, National Weather Forecasting Centre.

According to some independent experts, a cold wave has not yet set in as minimum temperatures need to be four degrees below to qualify as a 'cold wave'. The average minimum temperature in Delhi is 7 degree Celsius while on Friday it is was four degree Celsius. "There was no rainfall in the first half of January but the rainfall in the past week changed the atompsheric conditions, causing the mercury to plunge. The northwesterly winds effect has been pronounced in Haryana, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh," said GP Sharma, vice-president, Skymet weather services.

The Met department in its forecast has predicted a drop in temperatures across Uttar Pradesh while temperatures in Delhi-NCR will stabilise.