Mercury rises further to 7.8 Deg C, fog delays 20 flights

New Delhi, Jan 7 (UNI) Continuing its rising trend since Friday, the mercury in the capital today rose further to 7.8 degrees Celsius even as fog dipped the visibility levels in the city this morning, resulting in delay of 20 flights.

The cold wave in the city has further abated today with the minimum temperature rising to 7.8 degrees Celsius, from 7.4 degrees Celsius yesterday.

However, after a relatively clear sky the past few weeks, fog resurfaced in the capital, bringing down visibility levels to 200 m at 1000 hours.

As many as 20 flights were delayed in the morning due to fog.

''The runway visual range at the airport this morning plummeted to 300 m, forcing the airport authorities to enforce low visibility procedures. A total of 20 flights were delayed due to fog,'' a spokesperson of the GMR group said.

The visibility levels, however, had increased now, normalising flight operations.

The fog also caused traffic jams in many areas of Delhi in the morning.

The Met office has predicted a partly cloudy sky during the next 24 hours with possibility of fog in the morning hours tomorrow.

Weatherman have also forecast a rise in minimum temperature to 9 degrees Celsius tomorrow.

UNI AR DS VC1316