Winter conditions in Delhi and nearby areas of the National Capital Region (NCR) are expected to become more severe in the coming days, according to the weather department. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that cold-wave conditions are likely to continue, even as the city experiences a noticeable improvement in air quality.

The IMD said that cold-wave conditions may occur at some places in Delhi between January 2 and January 5. A cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature drops 4.5 to 6.5 degrees Celsius below the normal level. Because of this, people in the city are likely to feel much colder, especially during the night and early morning hours.

With this low temperatures, the IMD has also predicted dense to very dense fog in many parts of Delhi. This fog is expected to continue during the night and early morning until January 6. Similar cold and foggy conditions have also been forecast for Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana till January 5, which may affect travel and daily activities in these states.

Even though the weather has become colder, there has been some relief on the pollution front. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi improved to 302, which is at the lower end of the ‘very poor’ category. This is a significant improvement compared to an AQI of 380 recorded on Monday.

Neighbouring NCR cities also saw better air quality. Noida recorded an AQI of 299, placing it in the ‘poor’ category. Gurugram reported an AQI of 232, while Faridabad recorded 220, both considered poor but improved levels. Ghaziabad also showed progress, with an AQI of 300. Overall, pollution levels have reduced across the NCR region.

In Delhi, only one monitoring station — Dwarka NSIT — remained in the severe category, recording an AQI of 423. Another major pollution hotspot, Anand Vihar, showed improvement as its AQI dropped to 348, after crossing 450 on December 31.

Despite an orange alert for dense fog, visibility across most parts of Delhi remained manageable. At Indira Gandhi International Airport, general visibility was around 1,000 metres, allowing normal flight operations.

Meanwhile, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the city recorded its best air qualityin the last eight years in 2025. He stated that PM2.5 levels fell from 104 to 96 micrograms per cubic metre, while PM10 levels reduced from 212 to 197 compared to the previous year.

According to official data, Delhi experienced around 200 days in 2025 when AQI stayed below 200, marking a 15 per cent improvement over the past four years.