Parts of North India continued to witness foggy and cold wave conditions on Friday. Low visibility due to dense to very dense fog was reported in parts of Punjab, Haryana, northwest Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting severe cold waves in some regions.

At 5:30 am on Friday, the visibility at Palam airport (Delhi) and Amritsar was recorded at around 200 metres. In Ambala and Ganganagar, the visibility was 25 metres; in Patiala, Chandigarh, Churu, Bareilly and Purnea, it was 50 metres and at Delhi's Safdarjung airport, the visibility was recorded at 500 metres.

People wait for transport outside a park, amid dense fog, during a cold morning, in Kolkata.

It was less foggy in eastern UP with Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi reporting above 1000 metres of visibility. As per IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 is dense, 201 and 500 moderate, and 501 and 1,000 shallow.

"Dense to Very Dense Fog conditions likely to continue over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh during next 48 hours and decrease in intensity and spread thereafter," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

21 trains running late

Twenty one trains were running late by a few hours due to poor visibility induced by fog, news agency ANI reported. According to CPRO Northern Railway, Darbhanga-New Delhi Special is running late by 3 hours; Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express by 1:45 hours; Gaya-New Delhi Mahabodhi Express by 1:30 hours; Malda Twon-Delhi Jn. Farakka Express by 3 hours; Barauni-New Delhi Special by 3 hours; Anand Vihar by 3 hours; Ayodhya-Delhi Express by 4 hours and Rajgir-New Delhi by 3:30 hours.

Meanwhile, cold wave conditions are likely to prevail in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Here's a look at the situation in these states and warnings issued by the IMD on Friday.

Delhi

According to the IMD, Delhiites woke up to dense fog in the morning on Friday with a partly cloudy sky and the temperature dropping to below 8 degrees Celcius in most parts of the Delhi-NCR region.

Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 7.9 degrees Celcius; Lodhi Road- 7.3; Gurgaon- 7.6; Ayanagar- 5.6; Ridge- 5.3; Faridabad 9.4; Ghaziabad- 8.0; Jafarpur 7.5; Najafgarh- 9.1; Noida- 8.1 Pitampura, Sports Complex, Mayur Vihar recorded a minimum temperature of 10, 10, and 8.7 degrees Celcius respectively.

Few people in Delhi took refuge at a night shelter in the Kashmiri Gate area as the cold wave hit the national capital.

Delhi | People take refuge at a night shelter in the Kashmiri Gate area as the cold wave hits the national capital

"A total of 15 people are staying here. Blankets, beds are available here. We provide tea, snacks & 2 meals a day to people who stay here," says Anurag, caretaker pic.twitter.com/bByQmcUMFg— ANI (@ANI) December 23, 2022

Uttar Pradesh

School timing in various districts of Uttar Pradesh — from class 1 to 8 — has been changed from 10 am to 3 pm till December 31 due to cold weather and heavy fog, Mint reported, The district administration of Lucknow, Ghaziabad, and other cities have issued an order announcing the change. "In view of the dense fog and cold, all the schools from class 1 to 8 in the district are now instructed to open from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm," the order read.

Dense fog and cold waves gripped Uttar Pradesh on Friday. The IMD has issued a cold wave alert in Bijnor, Moradabad. Bareilly and Bahraich, while a yellow alert has been issued in Bulandshahar, Hardoi, Unnao and Kheri among other districts.

Punjab

The IMD has issued a red alert, predicting severe cold waves, in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Firozpur, Faridkot, Moga, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Barnala, Sangrur and Patiala districts of Punjab. Meanwhile, an orange alert has been issued in Bathinda and Sas Nagar.

Haryana

Even parts of Haryana are on red and orange alert. Severe cold waves are likely in Hisar, Jind, Rohtak, Panipat, Ambala, Sonipat and Karnal. Meanwhile, an orange alert has been issued in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Bhiwani and Jhajjar.

Himachal Pradesh

The IMD has predicted, "Cold wave conditions and dense fog at isolated places" in Himachal Pradesh. A cold wave alert has been issued in Kangra, Hamirpur, Una, Bilaspur and Mandi.

First Published:Dec 23, 2022 11:21 AM IST