Yellow ALERT! Bone-Chilling Cold Wave Grips Delhi, Parts of North India; Brace for More, Warns IMD

New Delhi: Several areas of the National Capital Delhi have been put on yellow alert as cold weather conditions persisted with temperatures registering a sharp fall. Cold waves have intensified across the city with maximum temperatures hovering below normal limits. Night temperatures too have been settling below normal at some places. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi experienced its coldest day this winter on Tuesday, with the minimum temperature dropping to 5.3°C. It was still colder in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, with the minimum temperatures in Kanpur and Agra dropping below freezing point -- at 1.1 and 1.0°C respectively.

MET Dept Warns of Dense Fog

Meanwhile, Delhi's Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 7.1 degrees Celsius while 7.4 degrees Celsius was recorded at Palam. The MeT has warned of dense to very dense fog at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh and dense fog over Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

It said that Cold day to severe cold day conditions will be seen at isolated places over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Thunderstorm/Lightning could occur at isolated places over East Uttar Pradesh.

The minimum temperatures are in the range of 5 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and between 10 degrees to 13 degrees Celsius over Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, according to the India Meteorological Department.

"Visibility recorded at 8.30 am today (<=200 metres): West Rajasthan: Bikaner-25, Ganganagar-200; East Rajasthan: Sikar-25, Jaipur & Ajmer-50, Kota-200; Odisha: Chandbali-25; *Punjab: Amritsar-50, Ludhiana & Patiala-200; East Uttar Pradesh: Bahraich-50, Lucknow-200; Jammu Division: Jammu-200; Haryana: Ambala-200; Bihar: Purnea-200; Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim: Jalpaiguri & Cooch Behar-200; Tripura: Agartala-200"," IMD said.

Homeless People Struggle For Warmth

In the national capital, homeless people were seen huddling in government-run night shelters. The night shelters in Delhi are aimed at providing a refuge to homeless people, who live on the streets and have nowhere else to go in the cold. The shelters offer blankets, beds, hot water, and food to those seeking shelter. A caretaker from one such night shelter home in Delhi's Anand Vihar told ANI that not only do these homes provide sanctuary to the people, amid the biting cold outside, but they also have a rescue team that brings people lying on roadsides to the shelter.