Year-end travel alert: Dense fog and cold wave to disrupt journeys across North India

Large parts of India are set to experience harsh winter conditions in the final week of December, with a combination of cold wave spells, dense to very dense fog, and fresh snowfall expected to disrupt daily life across northern, eastern and central regions. According to the latest weather bulletin issued on December 24, forecasts valid from December 25 to December 30 indicate that winter conditions will intensify before stabilising towards the end of the year.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that several states, particularly in North and East India, may see prolonged fog episodes during night and early morning hours, while cold wave and cold day conditions are likely to persist in pockets through December 27. Meanwhile, the Western Himalayan region is expected to receive intermittent rainfall and snowfall as fresh western disturbances approach the region.

Snowfall and rain likely in the western Himalayas

From December 27 onwards, isolated to scattered light to moderate rainfall and snowfall is very likely across the Western Himalayan region with similar conditions forecast for Himachal Pradesh on December 28 and 30, while Uttarakhand may experience snowfall and rain on December 29 and 30.

These weather systems are expected to bring fresh snow to higher reaches, potentially affecting road connectivity in mountain passes and tourist areas. The IMD has indicated that snowfall activity may intensify briefly during this period as a western disturbance moves across the Himalayan belt, marking a typical late-December winter pattern.

Hill states have already been witnessing sub-zero temperatures in several areas, and the fresh precipitation is likely to deepen winter conditions further, particularly in higher altitudes.

Cold wave conditions are forecast to prevail at isolated places across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand from December 25 to 27. During this period, temperatures are expected to remain significantly below normal, particularly during nighttime and early morning hours.

Uttarakhand may face cold day to severe cold day conditions on December 25 and 26, while cold day conditions are likely over Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh from December 25 onwards. These conditions occur when maximum daytime temperatures fail to rise adequately, resulting in persistently cold conditions even during daylight hours.

The IMD has also indicated that minimum temperatures across east India are expected to fall gradually by 2–3 degrees Celsius between December 25 and 27, before stabilising. In Northeast India, temperatures are forecast to remain largely unchanged for the first two days, followed by a sharper drop of 3–4 degrees Celsius from December 27 through the end of the month.

Dense fog to disrupt visibility across northern plains

Dense to very dense fog is expected to be one of the most disruptive weather phenomena in the coming days. East Uttar Pradesh is likely to experience widespread fog till December 28, with lingering foggy conditions extending into December 31 in some areas. West Uttar Pradesh is expected to see dense fog till December 28, followed by renewed fog spells towards the end of the month.

Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi are also expected to experience multiple days of dense to very dense fog, particularly between December 27 and 29. Similar conditions are forecast over parts of Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

In eastern and northeastern states, dense fog is likely over Bihar from December 25 to 29, over Odisha till December 29, and over Assam and Meghalaya till December 29. Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are expected to see foggy conditions till December 27.

On December 29 and 30, extreme fog conditions are expected in the early morning hours in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, the Delhi-NCR region, east Uttar Pradesh and Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi region.

Thunderstorms over Andaman and Nicobar Islands

While the days are foggy and snowy up north, down south in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the year-end is going to see isolated thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds ranging between 30 and 40 kmph, especially from December 27 to 29. Expect short-duration heavy showers and gusty winds as well. There are no fishermen warnings issued till now.

Winter to remain dominant till year-end

Overall, the weather outlook suggests that winter conditions will remain firmly in place across much of the country till the end of December.