Overview
- IMD forecasts dense to very dense fog over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and the east for several days, with isolated cold wave and cold day conditions through December 30.
- Air quality worsened in the Delhi-NCR, with Noida at AQI 409 and Ghaziabad at 404 in the severe range and Delhi staying very poor, as authorities kept GRAP curbs at Stages 1–3 after lifting Stage 4 earlier in the week.
- Dense fog disrupted aviation in Punjab, where Amritsar airport diverted one international and three domestic flights and saw no movements until 11:30 am, while Delhi’s IGI reported normal operations per an evening advisory.
- Temperatures plunged across regions, with Hisar at 2.5°C in Haryana, Kanke near Ranchi at 2.5°C in Jharkhand, Mandsaur at 2.9°C in Madhya Pradesh, and Sonamarg the coldest in J&K at −5.8°C.
- Jharkhand expanded ‘yellow’ cold-wave alerts to seven districts as fog and cold continued across north and central India, and UP, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Odisha reported widespread chill and low visibility.