Fog and chilly winds will greet New Year revellers on Sunday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its forecast on Saturday has predicted dense fog over the city on the first day of the year.

It also warned: "Dense fog to very dense fog in Bihar is likely to prevail on January 1 and 2. The trough of low at mean sea level over equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining Maldives area persists. Further, the upper air cyclonic circulation over sub-Himalayan Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh extending up to 3.6km above mean sea level also persists along with the upper-air cyclonic circulation over northwest Rajasthan & neighbourhood extending up to 0.9km above mean sea level."

Patna Met director Sumendu Sengupta said: "There will be no respite from fog for the next two days due to high level of moisture incursion in the entire region. Both north-westerly cold winds and warm easterlies are blowing simultaneously due to which the residents have to face fog and chilly winds at the same time. While the easterly winds cause fog, the cold winds blowing from Jammu and Kashmir and the Himachal region are responsible for the slide in the maximum temperature."

Patna recorded a maximum temperature of 17.5°C on Saturday, five degrees below normal while the minimum registered was 12.1°C. However, in weather parlance, it is the maximum which is more responsible for cold day conditions. The more the maximum temperature drops, more colder the day will be, an official of the Met department said. As far as fog is concerned, it is due to high humidity level, he said.

Even after January 2, the weather is not likely to improve as a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from January 3. Fresh rain and snow in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will pull the temperature below 10°C, the weatherman said.

College student Swati Mishra said: "I and my friends have planned to visit Gandhi Maidan tomorrow (Sunday). Though it's very cold, we do not want to miss a life-time opportunity of being a part of Prakash Utsav."

"If the weather permits, we could even visit the Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib gurdwara," she added.