The New Year is set to bring a thick blanket of fog across large parts of north and east India, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning of dense to very dense fog, cold day conditions and cold waves in several states over the coming days.
According to the weather office's latest forecast, dense fog is expected over isolated pockets of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and cold wave conditions in Delhi, Chandigarh among other states – as winter tightens its grip.
On New Year Eve, blinding fog crippled Delhi, north India as visibility plunged — affecting flight operations.
IMD forecast for fog
IMD has warned of dense fog during night and morning hours at isolated locations spanning across Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad till 4 January.
The weather office has also warned of similar fog conditions in Himachal Pradesh between January 2 - 5, while Uttarakhand is likely to remain affected till 5 January.
Dense fog conditions have also been forecast for Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi during January 7 and 8, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh till 8 January, Rajasthan on 4 January, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on 3 January.
Cold day conditions likely in parts of north India
Ahead of fog conditions in Himachal Pradesh from 2-5 January, the state is likely to experience cold day conditions in isolated places – as per IMD's forecast.
Met Department has predicted cold day conditions in the following states:
— isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on 1 January,
— Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi on 1 January 2,
— over Bihar between January 1 and 3.
IMD issues cold wave warning for these states
The weather department has also warned of cold wave conditions at isolated pockets of Himachal Pradesh from January 1 to 4, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi between January 2 and 5, and Rajasthan from January 4 to 7, 2026.
