Cold broke records, North India in the grip of dense fog and cold wave, speed of trains and planes stopped.

The sudden change in weather due to the influence of western disturbance has affected North India. Cold Have been forced to bear the gruesome beating. On Friday, dense fog and cold wave dominated the area spanning thousands of kilometers from Punjab to Bihar.

Visibility reached zero in many parts, due to which people’s life was completely disrupted. Rail, road and air transport was severely affected and dozens of flights and trains were delayed or cancelled. The Meteorological Department has issued Red Alert for Delhi and Orange Alert for many cities of Uttar Pradesh.

Zero visibility in some areas

According to IMD, till 5.30 am on Friday, zero visibility was recorded in cities like Agra, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Gorakhpur, Ambala, Amritsar, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Gwalior, Bhagalpur and Daltonganj. Due to continuous freezing wind and fog, melting spread till Western UP, Central UP and Purvanchal. Visibility in Varanasi remained limited to 100 meters till 10 am. In Meerut and surrounding districts, fog covered the sun till noon on the second day also.

Gwalior-Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh also remained under the influence of dense fog, where visibility on the roads was less than 100 meters till 9 am. In Bareilly division, all schools up to class eight have been closed till December 20. School timings have been changed in many districts.

Effect of fog on rail traffic

More than 40 trains coming to Delhi were delayed by two hours or more. The Bhagalpur Garib Rath Express was cancelled, while the Sambhalpur Express arrived five hours late. Many major trains, including Shatabdi and Vande Bharat, were delayed by an average of 45 minutes. Shadowy fog remained in Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur and Badaun of Uttar Pradesh from Thursday night till Friday afternoon. During this period, eight trains also had to be cancelled.

flight operations disrupted

Visibility reached 50 meters at Delhi’s IGI airport from 2:30 pm on Thursday to 8:30 am on Friday. The announcement of cancellation of 28 flights from Varanasi airport was made in the morning itself. Air India’s Mumbai-Varanasi flight had to be diverted to Bhubaneswar due to dense fog.

Two flights on Delhi-Pantnagar route were cancelled. Eight flights including Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru arrived at Dehradun airport late by one to one and a half hours. Airlines have warned that flights to and from the affected areas may continue to be affected by fog.

Fog levels – what is visible when?

Very dense fog: 0 to 50 meter visibility

Dense fog: 51 to 200 meters

Moderate fog: 201 to 500 meters

Light fog: 501 to 1,000 meters

The Meteorological Department has advised people to avoid unnecessary travel and use fog lights while driving. According to experts, this period of cold wave and fog may become more intense in the coming days.