Srinagar cut off, yellow alert for Delhi weather

A fresh western disturbance brought havoc to the hills on Sunday, caking large swathes of northwestern India in snow, and effectively blocking off Srinagar from the rest of the country, as the precipitation cut off roads and grounded flights.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

Delhi, meanwhile, woke up to another unusually damp and gloomy February morning after an overnight spell of showers, even as the weather office issued a yellow alert, warning that a dense fog may blanket the city early on Monday.

Authorities up north scrambled to contain the fall-out from an unusually late spell of cold weather, especially after a relatively warm January Jammu & Kashmir issued avalanche alerts across eight districts for Monday and urged people to stay indoors, while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned of fresh snowfall and moderate rain.

The ceaseless snowfall forced authorities to shut the Srinagar airport and cancel all flights headed into or out of Jammu & Kashmir's summer capital. In Jammu, a landslide along the crucial 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway around 11.15am brought traffic to a halt for hours.

The national capital's weather has also seen a sharp turnaround this month, with the rain already touching record levels, after a bone-dry start to 2024.