The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast dense fog in several districts of West Bengal during the morning hours over the next few days, with visibility expected to drop below 200 metres.
In a bulletin, the IMD said dry weather will prevail across all districts of the state for the next seven days. It added that the prevailing cold conditions in several areas are likely to marginally ease, with minimum temperatures expected to rise by 2–3 degrees Celsius.
According to the IMD, dense fog is very likely in north Bengal districts including Darjeeling, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur, and Malda. Similar conditions are also expected in south Bengal districts such as Paschim and Purba Bardhaman, Birbhum, Murshidabad, Nadia, Hooghly, and North 24 Parganas.
The upper reaches of Darjeeling district recorded the lowest minimum temperature in the state on Thursday morning at 3 degrees Celsius. In the plains, Sriniketan emerged as the coldest location, registering a minimum temperature of 8.8 degrees Celsius, the bulletin said.
Other places that reported significantly low minimum temperatures include Bankura at 9.2 degrees Celsius, Jalpaiguri at 9.5 degrees Celsius, Cooch Behar at 9.6 degrees Celsius, Jhargram at 9.8 degrees Celsius, and Asansol at 9.9 degrees Celsius, according to the IMD.
Kolkata recorded a minimum temperature of 13.2 degrees Celsius.