The India Meteorological Department reported that Delhi experienced a minimum temperature of 12.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above the normal mark for this time of year.
The weather forecast anticipates the persistence of shallow fog throughout the day, with the maximum temperature expected to reach around 25 degrees Celsius. At 8:30 am, the relative humidity stood at 100 per cent, creating challenging weather conditions.
Adverse weather conditions and low visibility led to the diversion of at least 18 flights from the Delhi airport on Saturday, according to officials. These flights were redirected to Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, and Amritsar.
A communication posted on the microblogging platform X around 8:10 am indicated that the Delhi airport was implementing low visibility procedures. Flights were diverted between 7 AM and 10 AM, as per Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport sources.
Vistara airline provided updates on the diversions, with a tweet on X stating, "Flight UK954 from Mumbai to Delhi (BOM-DEL) has been diverted to Jaipur (JAI) due to bad weather at Delhi airport and has arrived in Jaipur (JAI) at 0842 hours."
"Flight UK832 from Chennai to Delhi (MAA-DEL) has been diverted to Amritsar (ATQ) due to low visibility at Delhi (DEL) airport and is expected to arrive in Amritsar at 1100 hrs."
Another tweet from the airline mentioned, "Flight UK928 from Mumbai to Delhi (BOM-DEL) has been diverted to Jaipur (JAI) due to low visibility at Delhi airport."
Official data indicated an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 375 at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) at 10:00 AM.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported 'Very Poor' air quality in Anand Vihar and Ashok Vihar. Anand Vihar had an AQI reading of 388, while Ashok Vihar recorded an AQI reading of 386 at 6 AM on Saturday.