Delhi schools to be closed for next 5 days up to Class 5 amid cold weather

Due to prevailing cold weather conditions, schools in Delhi will remain closed for the next 5 days till January 12 for students from Nursery to Class 5, said Delhi Minister Atishi on Sunday.

"Schools in Delhi will remain closed for the next 5 days due to the prevailing cold weather conditions, for students from Nursery to Class 5," Atishi said in a post on X.

The Delhi government, in the previous order, extended the winter break till January 10 in all the government-aided and unaided recognised private schools of the national capital territory (NCT) in light of 'extreme cold waves and IMD's yellow alert'. However, hours after the issuance, the Delhi government retracted that order pertaining to the extension of winter vacation in schools within the national capital.

A cold day to severe cold day was the state of the weather in Delhi, parts of East Rajasthan, northwest Rajasthan, Haryana and in isolated pockets over Punjab amid the unavailability of sunlight.

The maximum temperatures recorded at various stations displayed a significant departure from the normal range for this time of year.

Cold to severe cold conditions are likely to continue over Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan during the next 1 day and a significant decrease thereafter, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Maximum temperatures are in the range of 9-12°C over many parts of Punjab and Haryana; and in the range of 13-16 °C over north Rajasthan, Delhi, northwest Madhya Pradesh and some parts of Uttar Pradesh. It is below normal by 4-9°C over these areas.

Minimum temperatures are in the range of 6-15°C over Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, northwest Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Today, the lowest minimum temperature of 2.0°C was reported at Sikar (East Rajasthan).

The skyline over Delhi remained grey as a cold conditions continued to grip the city.

As the temperature dipped in Delhi, people sat by the bonfire in a bid to keep themselves warm.

People were spotted by a bonfire in Agra also as the cold condtions continued in several parts of the state of Uttar Pradesh. As per IMD, Agra will experience 'Fog/mist in the morning and mainly clear sky later' with the minimum temperature dropping to 7°C and maximum temperature being 19°C.

A layer of fog blanketed Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

As per IMD, Northwest and Central India are likely to receive a fresh spell of rainfall with thunderstorms/hailstorms from 08th-10th January.

Meanwhile, the rehearsals for the January 26th, Republic Day parade were conducted at Kartavya Path as cold conditions and fog continued in the national capital.