Monday coldest December day since 1901 in Delhi: IMD

Delhi, which is shivering under an intense spell of cold wave for two weeks, has experienced its coldest day ever in the month of December on Monday, with the maximum temperature being recorded at just 9.4 degrees Celsius, the IMD announced.

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the regional weather forecasting centre, said the day temperature was almost half of what is considered normal for this day of the year.

"Today was the coldest day recorded for the month of December," Srivastava said.

The India Meteorological Department has records of temperatures since 1901.

It said the Aya Nagar weather station recorded the day temperature at 7.8 degrees Celsius, followed by Ridge (8.4), Palam (9), Lodi (9.2).

The national capital has been witnessing its most unforgiving winter season in the past 22 years, as the minimum temperature has remained around 3 degrees Celsius for a few days. It has been experiencing "severe cold days" since December 14, according to IMD.

On Saturday, the Safdarjung Observatory, whose reading is considered the official marking for Delhi, recorded the minimum temperature at 2.4 degrees Celsius, the season's lowest. The next day, the average minimum temperature was 3.4 degrees Celsius, four notches below the normal.

On Monday, a thick blanket of fog engulfed Delhi and the minimum temperature settled at 2.6 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung observatory.

The visibility recorded by Safdarjung and Palam observatories stood at zero metres at 8.30 am.