New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast light fog for Friday in the national capital which remained shrouded in fog and cold winds, with the maximum and minimum temperatures expected to settle at 27 degrees Celsius and 10 degrees Celsius, IMD officials said.

Delhi continued to experience dropping temperatures, with Thursday recording the season's coldest night so far at 10.2 degrees Celsius.

The nighttime temperature recorded on Wednesday was 11.2 degrees Celsius, while Tuesday night saw a low of 12.3 degrees Celsius, making them the second and third lowest of the season so far, according to the India Meteorological Department.

During the same period last year, the temperature dropped to 10.6 degrees Celsius in 2023 and 11.5 degrees Celsius in 2022, according to the data.

The city, covered in a blanket of fog and smitten by chilly wind, saw a maximum temperature of 27 degrees Celsius, 0.8 notch below the normal. The humidity levels fluctuated between 80 per cent and 64 per cent during the day, according to the Weather Department.

According to the Meteorological Department, the humidity level during the day was between 80 per cent and 64 per cent.

Delhi has become the most polluted city in India with an average PM 2.5 level of 243.3 micrograms per cubic metre and a 19.5 per cent increase in pollution week-on-week.

According to the 'Air Quality Analysis' report by 'Respire Living Sciences', Delhi ranks last in the list of cities in terms of air quality at number 281.

'Respire Living Sciences' analysed PM2.5 levels in 281 cities from November 3 to 16.

The major pollutant was PM 2.5. These are microscopic particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less. These are roughly equal to the width of a human hair.

According to the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, there has been a slight fall in minimum temperatures over Delhi/NCR during the past 24 hours.

"The Maximum and Minimum temperature over Delhi is in the range of 24 to 27 degrees Celsius and 8 to 12 degrees Celsius respectively. The maximum temperature was near normal and the minimum temperature was below normal by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius in most places over the region,” a bulletin said.

It added that mainly shallow fog/smog conditions with predominant surface wind from the northwest direction with wind speed reaching 6 to 10 kmph prevailed during daytime and calm wind during the night time on Wednesday.

“Shallow fog reported at Safdarjung airport during early morning today. Safdarjung airport recorded the lowest visibility of 600 m during 0700 hours to 0900 hours IST which improved thereafter becoming 700m at 0930 hours IST. Mainly smog conditions with wind speed less than 8 kmph southwest direction prevailed over the region in the forenoon today," it added.