Delhi wakes up to ‘very poor' AQI, cold winter day; IMD issues orange alert, airlines warn of delays due to dense fog

Delhi residents woke up to a chilly winter morning on Friday with the temperature at 11°C. At the Delhi Airport, visibility was recorded at 1,700 metres. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday forecast dense to very dense fog for the next five to seven days.

The weather agency issued an orange alert for “cold day” conditions in Delhi on 2 January, to be followed by a yellow alert the next day.

As per the latest weather bulletin, cold wave conditions are likely at isolated places in Delhi between 2 and 5 January. "Cold wave conditions very likely in isolated pockets of Himachal Pradesh during 1st - 4th; Punjab and Haryana Chandigarh & Delhi during 2nd -5th; Rajasthan during 4th - 7th January 2026," IMD said.

Forecasting a “partly cloudy sky,” IMD predicted foggy conditions during the morning hours. Today, the maximum temperature in Delhi is likely to settle between 16°C and 18°C, while the minimum temperature is expected to hover in the range of 8°C and 10°C.

“The minimum temperatures will be above normal (2.1 to 4.1°C) and the maximum temperatures will be below normal (-1.3 to -3.3°C) over Delhi,” IMD said.

The press release dated 1 January added: “Dense to Very dense fog conditions very likely to continue during night/morning hours at many/some places over Punjab and Haryana Chandigarh & Delhi till 06th; over Odisha till 5th; over Bihar and East Uttar Pradesh till 2nd January at isolated pockets over Rajasthan till 3rd January 2026.”

IndiGo cancels flights

In view of the very dense fog forecast during morning hours, IndiGo issued a travel advisory that said, “Early-morning fog is expected to affect visibility across #Delhi. A few flights scheduled for tomorrow have been cancelled in advance to help reduce waiting time at the airport.”

Air India, in its travel advisory, said, “Due to predicted dense fog and reduced visibility in Delhi and parts of Northern India tomorrow morning, flight schedules may be impacted, causing ripple effects across the network.”

Delhi AQI today

Delhi's air quality recorded improvement from the previous day, even though the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) remained in the ‘very poor’ category. The 24-hour average recorded at 6:05 AM was 321, while on New Year's Day it was 380, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

NSIT Dwarka monitoring station registered the worst AQI reading of 419 today, falling in the ‘severe’ range. Meanwhile, eight stations out of 37 recorded AQI in the ‘poor’ range, while the remaining 28 stations registered ‘very poor’ AQI.