Parts of north India are expected to remain under dense to very dense fog conditions over the coming days. Fog is likely to persist during night and early morning hours across Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and west Uttar Pradesh till December 31, while east Uttar Pradesh may continue to see reduced visibility till January 1, with gradual improvement thereafter.

Isolated pockets of dense fog are also expected over east Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh till December 29. Similar conditions are likely to prevail over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Meghalaya, as well as Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Odisha till January 1, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Orange alert in Delhi

The weather department has issued an orange alert for Delhi on December 29. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 22 degrees Celsius, while the minimum will settle at 7 degrees Celsius.

Cold wave in UP

Cold day conditions are very likely in isolated areas of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on December 28 and 29, while Bihar may experience similar conditions on December 28. Cold wave conditions are expected in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh during December 28 and 29, and in Jharkhand on December 28.

Meanwhile, a fresh Western Disturbance is expected to affect the western Himalayan region from December 30, with its impact extending to the adjoining plains from December 31 onwards.

Poor visibility reported in several regions

Weather observations from the past 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on December 28 showed very dense fog in many parts of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, with visibility dropping below 50 metres in several locations. Dense fog was also reported in isolated areas of Jammu division, west Madhya Pradesh and Assam, while parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Odisha, Bihar and the northeast reported reduced visibility.

Several cities recorded extremely poor visibility, including Amritsar, Pathankot, Agra, Prayagraj and Gwalior, where visibility dropped to near zero at times. Delhi’s Safdarjung area recorded visibility of around 100 metres during the morning hours.

Cold day to severe cold day conditions were observed in isolated areas of Uttar Pradesh, while parts of Uttarakhand and Bihar also reported cold day conditions. Cold wave conditions were recorded in isolated pockets of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Rainfall and snowfall forecast

The IMD said light to moderate rainfall and snowfall is likely over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad between December 30 and January 2. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand may also receive isolated rainfall or snowfall during the same period. Light rainfall is expected in parts of Punjab, Haryana, west Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan between December 31 and January 1.

Thunderstorms over Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds are likely over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from December 28 to January 1, with isolated heavy rainfall expected on December 28 .

Will temperatures drop?

Minimum temperatures over the past 24 hours fell below 5 degrees Celsius in many parts of the western Himalayan region. Hisar in Haryana recorded the lowest minimum temperature over the plains at 2.5 degrees Celsius.

The weather office said minimum temperatures are unlikely to change significantly over northwest, central and east India in the next 24 hours, followed by a gradual rise over the subsequent days. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the South Andaman Sea on December 28 due to unfavourable weather conditions.