Delhi, Punjab To Wake Up To Chilly New Year, IMD Issues 'Red Alert' Over Dense Fog

As cold wave has intensified across north India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘red alert’ for Delhi and neighbouring states for Monday. 

Delhi and parts of Punjab are likely to wake up to dense fog and cold conditions on January 1.

The weather agency predicted ‘cold day’ with ‘dense fog’ in Punjab’s Amritsar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Pathankot, Patiala, Rupnagar and Tarn Taran districts.

According to IMD, cold day conditions are very likely in isolated pockets over Punjab from January 2 to 4, 2024. Haryana will witness cold weather conditions from January 1 to 4, while Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh too have to face cold days on December 31 and January 1. 

An orange alert has been declared in Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for January 1. The alert has been issued over the forecast of dense fog and cold to extremely cold conditions at several places across the mentioned states. 

Meanwhile, the blanket of fog and compromised visibility is causing concerns for commuters and residents in the affected areas. Several regions are facing low visibility with just 25 metres in Ambala, 50 metres in Bikaner, Patiala and Chandigarh. Meanwhile, Punjab’s Amritsar and Hisar in Haryana recorded visibility of 200 metres while Jhansi in UP recorded 50 metres visibility.

Apart from this, Uttarakhand may also witness dense fog conditions with visibility just upto 50-200 metres in the early hours of the days from December 31 to January 4, forecasted IMD.

The temperature is likely to dip by 2-3°C over many parts of Central and Northwest India during the next two days.