Cold wave update: Delhi, UP, Rajasthan to be hit till January 6, dense fog to disrupt traffic

In several areas of the country, severe cold and thick fog have disrupted daily life, with minimum temperatures falling to single digits in a number of regions. The IMD predicts "dense to extremely dense fog" for today in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

A "cold wave to severe cold wave conditions" was also predicted by the meteorological office for Rajasthan, as well as "cold wave conditions" for Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi till January 6.

This morning, the temperatures in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan were eight, six, and four degrees Celsius, respectively.

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Over the Indo-Gangetic plains, dense to extremely dense fog is very likely to persist in some or many pockets during the night and early morning hours. This is due to weak winds and high levels of moisture near the surface. Following that, there will be intense fog in scattered pockets over Uttarakhand and Rajasthan for the following 2-3 days, followed by Haryana, Chandigarh, and Uttar Pradesh.

According to IMD, the cold wave conditions would almost certainly persist over northwest India for the next three days before waning. It issued warnings about hazardous driving conditions, the potential for traffic collisions, delays on trains and planes, and the tripping of power lines as a result of the weather.

Additionally, the MeT department projected intense fog in isolated pockets over Bihar over the next five days, as well as across Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Meghalaya during the next two days.

Over east India, no notable changes in minimum temperatures are anticipated for the next two days, following which they will drop by 2-4°C. Over the next five days, it's unlikely that the nation's minimum temperatures will vary significantly in the remaining regions.