Today is the coldest day of the season so far, with the minimum temperature in the nation’s capital falling below five degrees this morning. The New Delhi-Safdarjung monitoring station of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded a minimum temperature of 4.9 degrees Celsius.

As of right now, Delhi is colder than Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, where the lowest temperature was 6.8 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature recorded in Delhi yesterday was 24.1 degrees, and forecasts indicate that it will likely remain in the 24 degree range. Today’s high temperature in Shimla is predicted to reach 15 degrees.

The lowest minimum temperature of the winter season this year was recorded in Delhi yesterday, at 6.2 degrees. For the past few days, the nation’s capital has been experiencing below-average temperatures. The minimum temperature was 7.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, 6.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, and 6.5 degrees Celsius on Monday.

This morning, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was over 250, placing the air quality in Delhi’s various monitoring stations under the ‘Very Unhealthy’ category. Anand Vihar in the nation’s capital had an AQI of 475, indicating “hazardous” air quality. At nine in the morning yesterday, the overall AQI was 358 (‘very poor’).

This morning, fog covered parts of north and northeast India, making visibility difficult. According to the IMD, isolated pockets of extremely dense fog were seen over Punjab. At 5:30 this morning, there was shallow to moderate fog in a few isolated areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura.