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Dense fog in New Delhi
Photo: ANUSHREE FADNAVIS / REUTERS
Even in the colder winter months, the daily average temperature in New Delhi does not usually fall below ten degrees Celsius.
According to this benchmark, India's capital is currently being hit by a cold snap – lows of less than six degrees were measured on Tuesday morning.
In addition, New Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area of Delhi are shrouded in dense fog.
As the Reuters news agency reports, the visibility in the morning was only around 50 meters.
Delhi Airport warned passengers that some flights could not go ahead as planned due to the conditions.
Take-offs and landings would largely continue.
According to local media, a number of trains were also delayed.
According to the Indian weather service IMD, the weather phenomenon should last at least in some parts of the city until Wednesday because there is hardly any wind and high humidity levels are to be expected.
Only then will the fog weaken.
According to IMD, the cold wave will also affect other states in northwestern India.
Poor visibility is not an unusual phenomenon in Delhi, but the cause is usually different: the metropolis with more than 16 million inhabitants suffers from extremely poor air quality.
After the Diwali Festival of Lights in October, which is traditionally celebrated with fireworks and cannons, the values had become threatening.
The fine dust pollution was many times over the limit values of the World Health Organization (WHO) and was classified as "very bad" or even "dangerous".
fek/Reuters
