Friday was Delhi’s coldest night of this year’s winter season, with the temperature dropping to 8.3 degrees Celsius, ANI reported, citing the India Meteorological Department.

The minimum temperature in Delhi is likely to fall further to 7 degrees Celsius by Sunday, officials from the weather department told The Times of India. Days in the national Capital are still warm because of clear skies, but the heat dissipates fast at night, leading to a decrease in the minimum temperature, one of the officials said.

However, the city has not seen dense fog yet during this winter season, the weather department said.

“We usually record one or two mornings with dense fog by this time of the year, which has not happened this time RK Jenamani, senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department, told The Times of India reported. “For instance, dense fog was recorded on December 7 last year.”

Air quality

Delhi’s air quality index on Saturday evening was 256, which falls in the “poor category”, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research.

The air quality of Delhi and its neighbouring cities deteriorated after Diwali in November, reaching “severe” levels on multiple days since then. The Supreme Court has been hearing petitions seeking emergency steps to curb the air pollution in Delhi and its neighbouring states.

The court had last month ordered restrictions on construction and industrial activities in the city.

On Friday, the court noted that the air quality in the Capital had improved and asked the Centre’s Air Quality Commission to take a decision on relaxing the restrictions.