Delhi's air quality deteriorates to 'very poor', fog predicted for next 4 days

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Friday was the "longest foggy day of the season" and predicted similar conditions for Saturday.

The air quality in Delhi deteriorated to the ‘very poor’ category as the national capital recorded an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 339 on Saturday morning amid foggy conditions, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Delhi’s humidity stood at about 93% at 7am, making pollutants heavier and subsequently dispersion difficult.

Dense fog engulfs Rajpath on a cold winter day, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI)

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Friday was the "longest foggy day of the season" and predicted similar conditions for Saturday.

"Today, was the longest foggy day over Delhi for this season. It also caused a cold day due to the absence of sunlight in the day and also a little windy from northwest of 8-12kmph towards noon," IMD said.

A Met department official said that a layer of dense fog on Friday morning and moderate fog during the day over Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Haryana, west Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan prevented the sunlight from reaching the surface. Foggy conditions along with light north westerlies blowing over the region led to a cold day, the official added.

Meanwhile, cold wave conditions continue to grip Delhi as the temperature dipped to 8 degrees Celsius at around 7am, with a wind speed of 5 kilometres per hour.