Dense fog and cold wave conditions gripped Delhi on Thursday, with visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport falling to 50 metres. Air quality remained very poor at an AQI of 354, while minimum temperature was 5 degrees Celsius. Flight operations faced disruptions amid the foggy weather.
On January 15, 2026, Delhi and surrounding areas in North India woke up to dense fog that severely impacted visibility and daily life. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported visibility as low as 50 metres at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) at 5:30 am. The air quality index (AQI) stood at 354, categorised as 'very poor' by the Air Quality Early Warning Systems (EWS) at 2:30 am.
The minimum temperature dipped to 5 degrees Celsius, with cold wave conditions expected to continue throughout the day. Despite the challenging weather, security forces proceeded with rehearsals for the Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path, as noted by news agency PTI.
The IMD forecast indicated that dense to very dense fog would persist in isolated parts of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi until January 16, primarily during early mornings and nights. West Rajasthan was expected to see dense fog throughout the day. Similar conditions were predicted for Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, and Meghalaya until Friday.
Isolated areas in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh were likely to experience cold days on Thursday and Friday. Cold wave conditions were set to continue in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand on Friday, extending to Odisha until Saturday.
In Delhi-NCR, the fog led to near-zero visibility in some spots, causing flight delays and requiring CAT III landing conditions at the airport.
