Cold-day conditions prevail for 7th consecutive day in Delhi, mercury drops to 3.5 degrees

Delhiites woke up to another cold morning on Wednesday as the mercury dropped to 3.5 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal. The national capital is experiencing cold-day conditions for the seventh consecutive day. Moderate fog was observed in Delhi with dense fog conditions recorded in isolated parts of the city at 5:30 am. The visibility recorded at Delhi's main weather station -- Safdarjung observatory -- and Palam was 200 metres at 5:30 am.

Around 20 Delhi-bound trains were running late by up to six hours due to the weather conditions. "The distinction between low clouds and fog in satellite imagery is often a challenge," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The relative humidity was recorded at 91 per cent at 9.05 am. The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city continued to remain in the "very poor" category with a reading of 373 recorded at 9 am. The overall AQI on Tuesday stood at 371 at 4 pm. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".