Lucknow: Cold conditions in Uttar Pradesh continue to intensify as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert for dense fog and cold wave conditions over the next 48 hours. According to the department, 48 districts are likely to experience severe cold, with Kanpur emerging as the coldest district in the state over the past 24 hours.
For the last five days, large parts of Uttar Pradesh have remained under a thick blanket of fog, accompanied by cold winds. The persistent fog has significantly reduced visibility, with cities such as Ghaziabad, Agra, Kanpur, and Prayagraj reporting zero visibility on Saturday. In several districts, cold day conditions prevailed, further intensifying the chill. The prolonged fog has disrupted normal life. School closures and revised timings have been implemented in multiple districts, while train and flight services have faced significant delays. The IMD has cautioned that both fog density and cold wave intensity may increase over the next two days.
Districts under dense fog alert include Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Barabanki, Rae Bareli, Ghaziabad, Agra, Mathura, Jhansi, and several others across eastern, central, and western Uttar Pradesh.
In Lucknow, the maximum temperature was recorded at 16°C, nearly eight degrees below normal, while the minimum stood at 10°C. Kanpur recorded the lowest minimum temperature at 6.4°C.
Meteorologists have indicated that while minimum temperatures may briefly rise by 2–3°C, a further drop is expected, with cold day and dense fog conditions likely to persist.
