January 3, 2025: A thick blanket of fog coupled with an extreme cold wave disrupted air and rail travel across North India on Friday, causing widespread delays and cancellations. The dense fog severely impacted visibility, creating challenges for commuters and transport services in Delhi and neighboring states.
At Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, flight operations were significantly hampered. According to flight monitoring platform Flightradar, over 60 departing flights were delayed, and six were cancelled. Meanwhile, 193 arriving flights faced delays, with four cancellations reported. Other airports in the region, including Kolkata, also faced disruptions, with 17 departing flights delayed, one cancelled, and 36 arrivals delayed. Authorities at Delhi Airport reported runway visibility dropped to zero on Friday morning, prompting airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet to issue advisories about potential delays.
Rail services were equally affected, with at least 24 trains running behind schedule due to poor visibility caused by the fog. Several long-distance trains, including the Karnataka and Bihar Sampark Kranti Expresses and the Andhra Pradesh Express, were delayed by up to 4.5 hours.
The fog also led to accidents on roadways. In Punjab’s Bathinda district, a collision between a private bus and a truck injured 20 to 25 passengers, highlighting the dangers posed by reduced visibility.
The cold wave gripping the region has intensified over the past week. The National Capital Region (NCR) marked its fifth consecutive day of freezing temperatures, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue an orange warning for “dense to very dense fog” in Delhi. Schools in Noida have been ordered to remain closed for classes up to Grade 8 until further notice, with temperatures expected to drop to 8°C.
Other states, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Bihar, are also reeling under the severe cold wave. In Rajasthan's Fatehpur (Sikar district), the temperature plunged to 3.6°C, the lowest in the state over the past 24 hours. Bihar’s capital, Patna, and other regions are experiencing minimum temperatures ranging from 6°C to 11°C, prompting the government to adjust school timings from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until January 6.
As dense fog and plummeting temperatures persist, authorities have urged residents to exercise caution while traveling and to stay updated on weather conditions.