North India feels the chill, as fog hits flight services, delays 18 Delhi-bound trains

New Delhi [India], January 18 : Severe cold continued to prevail across North India, with the mercury recorded in single digits in several states and dense fog and low visibility affecting commuters in the early hours of Thursday.
According to an official release by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 'very dense fog' was observed in isolated parts of Punjab, Haryana, West Rajasthan and Bihar at 5.30 am on Thursday.
Similar heavy fog was also reported in isolated parts of Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam while moderate fog was observed in isolated parts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, according to IMD.
The Met agency informed further that shallow fog was also experienced in isolated parts of eastern Rajasthan, eastern Uttar Pradesh and western Madhya Pradesh.
The IMD also forecast dense to very dense fog for a few hours late night and morning over many parts of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh between January 18 (Thursday) and 20 and in isolated parts on January 21 and 22.
Further, as per the IMD, a rise in minimum temperatures by about 2 degrees Celsius is very likely over Northwest India over the next 24 hours but there will be no significant change thereafter.
Meanwhile, according to the national weather forecaster, cold to severe cold day conditions prevailed on Thursday in most parts of Bihar and East Uttar Pradesh, many parts of West Uttar Pradesh, some parts of Haryana and isolated parts of Uttarakhand, West Rajasthan, north Madhya Pradesh and Gangetic West Bengal.
The visibility at 5.30 am on Thursday was recorded below 500 metres.
Biting chill and poor visibility were also reported in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Rajasthan, East Rajasthan, West Uttar Pradesh, East Uttar Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Assam.
Amid dense fog prevailing in several parts of the country, as many as 18 trains were reported to be running behind schedule in Delhi, according to the Northern Railways.
Three trains--Bhubneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Ambedkarnagar-Katra and Muzaffarpur-Anandvihar--were delayed by around 3-3.45 hours.
Further, according to the Railways, the Puri-Nizamuddin Purushottam Express is also expected to arrive six hours later because of the fog.
Similarly, Rewa-Anand Vihar Express is likely to arrive late by around 4.30 hours and Azamgarh-Delhi Junction Kaifiyat Express was delayed by about 5.30 hours, the Railways informed.
At least nine more trains were running late by around 1-1.15 hours, according to the Railways. These were Jammutawi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Banglore-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express, Pratapgarh MLDP-Delhi, Dehradun-Delhi Junction, Chennai-New Delhi Express, Ferozpur-Mumbai Express, Amritsar-Mumbai Express, Kamakhya-Delhi Junction and Jammutawi-Ajmer Pooja Express.
Many passengers were stranded at railway stations and airports as flight and train movement was affected extensively due to fog.

Passengers were seen huddling and sleeping on platforms at New Delhi Railway Station late on Wednesday night.
Several flights were also delayed and a few were cancelled due to the prevailing fog.

"I arrived from Bahrain and my (connecting) flight is delayed by one hour," a passenger at Delhi's IGI airport said.
According to IMD data, flight services at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were affected due to dense fog, with visibility reduced to between 50 and 100 metres from 12 am to 6.30 am on Thursday.
The IMD, subsequently, put out a release saying that conditions improved marginally with visibility recorded at 300 metres at 8 am.