Ludhiana, Dec. 19 -- Normal life was crippled on Thursday as very dense fog enveloped the city through the morning hours, reducing visibility to a few metres in several areas and disrupting rail movement. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for very dense fog in many places on Thursday, followed by an orange alert for Friday, warning that foggy conditions were likely to persist.

The dense fog was accompanied by a sharp dip in temperatures, with the maximum temperature plummeting by 6.3 degrees Celsius within a day. While the maximum temperature was 23.1 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, it dropped to 16.8 degrees Celsius on Thursday, which was 4.2 degrees Celsius below normal for the day. The minimum temperature was ...