The IMD has warned of intensifying winter conditions with dense fog, cold days and snowfall across the western Himalayan region till January 1. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
Winter conditions are likely to intensify across large parts of the country, with dense fog, cold day spells, and snowfall over the western Himalayas expected through the end of December and into early January 2026. The cold wave conditions are likely to affect primarily north, east, and northeast India.
Isolated to scattered, light to moderate rain or snowfall is very likely over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad on December 27, and again during December 29 to January 1, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD). A similar precipitation forecast is for Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on December 27, 30 and 31.
Meanwhile, thunderstorms and lightning accompanied by gusty winds of 30–40 kmph are likely over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands from December 27 to 30.
For the subsequent three days, IMD expects isolated to scattered rainfall over the Western Himalayan region, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and island regions.
Over the rest of the country, no significant change in minimum temperatures is expected during the next seven days. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
Minimum temperature is expected to remain largely unchanged over Northwest, Central and East India for the next 4–5 days, followed by a rise of 2–3°C thereafter.
As of December 26, the minimum temperature was below normal across many parts of central, eastern and southern India. The lowest minimum temperature of 4.2°C was recorded at Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh, as per the IMD.
The maximum temperature remained below normal in parts of Jharkhand, while the highest maximum of 35.2°C was reported at Karwar (Karnataka) and Kottayam (Kerala).
Dense to very dense fog is likely in isolated pockets of Assam till December 28, Himachal Pradesh till December 31, and over Arunachal Pradesh till December 30.
Dense fog is also expected over Assam & Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura, Odisha and Uttarakhand till December 31, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim till December 29, and Bihar till December 29, followed by dense fog in isolated pockets for the next four days.
Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh may see dense to very dense fog till December 30, with isolated occurrences thereafter.
Uttar Pradesh is likely to experience dense to very dense fog in many parts till January 1, 2026.
Cold wave conditions are expected in north Rajasthan on December 28, and in Jharkhand on December 28 and 29. Cold day to severe cold day conditions are likely over East Uttar Pradesh on December 27, Bihar from December 27 to 31, and parts of Uttarakhand and West Uttar Pradesh during this period.