Weather: Fog engulfs much of the country, with rain and snow expected for the next five days from Kashmir to Uttarakhand.

New Delhi. Dense fog continues to engulf North India. Much of Central and Eastern India is also covered in dense fog, especially during the morning and night hours. The steadily decreasing difference between minimum and maximum temperatures has led to increased melting in the plains. Snow blankets the lofty peaks in the Western Himalayan states. At least nine locations in Odisha have recorded temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius. Light rain and snow are expected in these areas for the next five days.

According to the latest data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), dense fog enveloped parts of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, with visibility dropping below 50 meters. Visibility was zero in Amritsar, Punjab, and Agra, Kanpur Air Force Station, and Prayagraj Air Force Station in Uttar Pradesh. Dense fog also prevailed in some areas of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, eastern Madhya Pradesh, and northern Chhattisgarh, with visibility dropping below 50 meters. Meanwhile, isolated areas of Odisha, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Tripura, and Rajasthan experienced slightly more fog than normal, with visibility between 50 and 200 meters.

Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi are expected to experience very dense fog during the night and morning hours until December 27th. Dense fog is expected to prevail in Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, northern Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, northern Madhya Pradesh, and some areas of northeastern India for the next two to three days. Minimum temperatures in northwest India are expected to gradually drop by 3-5 degrees Celsius over the next three days. Temperatures in central India are also expected to drop by up to two degrees over the next 24 hours.

Jammu and Kashmir: Snowfall in the mountains continues on the second day of Chilla Kalan
Light snowfall continued in the mountains of Kashmir on Monday, the second day of Chilla Kalan. The plains remained overcast. The Bandipora-Gurez road, which was closed since Saturday, and the Mughal Road, which was closed after Sunday’s snowfall, have not yet reopened. The Meteorological Department has predicted snowfall on Tuesday as well. The weather is expected to remain the same until the New Year, with the cold increasing. The cold wind has caused shivering since the snowfall. There is only a 5.5-degree difference between day and night temperatures in Srinagar. The extremely low daytime temperatures are making the cold feel more intense. On Monday, the maximum temperature in Srinagar was recorded at 9.5 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degrees above normal. The minimum temperature was 4.0 degrees Celsius, 6.4 degrees above normal. According to the Meteorological Department, the valley will remain partly cloudy to moderately cloudy until December 31st.

Gulmarg receives 9 inches of snow, tourist destinations throng with tourists.
Snowfall in the Kashmir Valley has covered the upper reaches of the valley with a white blanket. These include Kashmir’s world-famous tourist destinations, Sonamarg, Gulmarg, Doodhpathri, Daksum, and Pahalgam. The snowfall that occurred until Monday morning has brought these tourist destinations to a brim with tourists. Besides the nearly 9 inches in Gulmarg and 7 inches in Sonamarg, Pahalgam’s famous tourist destinations, including Jade Gali, Machhil, Rajdhan Pass, Sadhna Top, Nowgam Sector, and the Pir Panchal hills, also recorded 4-5 inches of fresh snowfall.

Fog causes 14 flights cancelled and 500 delayed in Delhi
The dense fog engulfing the national capital has severely impacted air services. On Monday, 14 flights were cancelled and over 500 were delayed due to poor visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Officials said the cancelled flights included six arrivals and eight departures, including international flights. According to information available on flight tracking website Flightradar 24. com, more than 500 flights were delayed and the average delay time was a little over 30 minutes.