Dense fog blankets Delhi; disrupts road and air traffic

The residents of Delhi on Friday woke up to dense fog with minimum temperature settling at 12 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal.

Foggy conditions disrupted road and air traffic.

Weatherman said that both at the Safdarjung and Palam observatories, visibility was recorded less than 50 metres at 8 AM.

However, according to the MeT department, humidity level in the morning was 100 per cent.

The weatherman has predicted partly cloudy sky throughout the day.

With the runway visibility dropping below the required limits, an IndiGo flight was diverted while many departures were put on hold since 0415 hours, airport sources said.

All landings are taking place under CAT-III B landing system, the sources said, adding arrivals resumed about an hour ago.

CAT-III B allows the aircraft to land in visibility as low as 50 meters.

Minimum visibility required for CAT III landing at Delhi Airport is 50 meters and for low visibility take-off operations (LVTO) it is 125 meters.

GMR-run IGIA is the only airport in the country equipped with CAT IIIB.

"There will be partly cloudy sky and maximum temperature is expected to settle at 24 degrees Celsius," the official further said.

Yesterday, the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.5 degrees Celsius in the national capital while maximum temperature was recorded at 24.7 degrees Celsius.

The first week of January this year has been the warmest January in at least 15 years.

Photographs: Photos of the fog in Delhi on Friday posted by Twitter by Rajneesh Kumar, Rosemarie North and ANI