The winter chill is set to intensify across north India as the India Meteorological Department has forecast the beginning of coldwave conditions from Sunday.
An orange alert has been issued by the weather department for Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, West and East Rajasthan while a yellow alert has been sounded in Himachal Pradesh.
A layer of fog engulfed several cities in north India including Delhi, Jaipur, and Lucknow.
"Cold wave conditions likely to commence over parts of North India from 29th December 2024," the weather department said in a press release.
Coldwave to severe coldwave conditions are expected in parts of Himachal Pradesh on Monday and Tuesday while coldwave conditions are predicted in isolated pockets of Himachal Pradesh between Sunday and Wednesday.
Punjab and Haryana are likely to experience coldwave conditions in isolated pockets from Sunday till January 3 while Jammu Kashmir and Rajasthan are expected to be affected by coldwave conditions on Monday and Tuesday.
A warning for the cold day has also been given out by the weather department for isolated pockets in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan on Sunday.
Fog conditions are also expected to persist with the weather department stating dense to very dense fog conditions in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan on Sunday and Monday.
Dense fog is also likely to prevail over Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand from Sunday till January 1. Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura are also expected to witness dense fog conditions til January 2.