Cold wave grips Delhi; air quality slips to 'very poor' category

Delhiites woke up to a cold Monday morning with the minimum temperature settling at 8.3 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.

Humidity was recorded at 97 per cent.

The weatherman has forecast mainly clear skies for the day with moderate fog on Tuesday morning.

Severe cold wave conditions are likely in some parts of the national capital through the day and the maximum temperature may hover around 15 degrees Celsius, according to the Meteorological Department.

The visibility was 1,000 metres at 5.30 am in Safdarjung and was reduced to 600 metres by 8.30 am.

At Palam, the visibility was 700 metres at 5.30 am and had dropped to 500 metres by 8.30 am.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city at 9.44 am was recorded at 310, which falls in the "very poor" category.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor" and 401-500 "severe". An AQI above 500 falls in the "severe plus" category.

On Sunday, Delhi recorded a high of 14.6 degrees Celsius and a low of 7.4 degrees Celsius.