Delhi’s December dawn on December 20, 2025, was devoured by a dismal drape of dense fog and a deepening cold wave, as temperatures nosedived to a numbing 1.5 degrees Celsius overnight—the most merciless December low in six years. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) escalated to a red alert for extreme cold and very dense fog, projecting daytime highs scraping 12 degrees Celsius, with visibility constricted to 15 meters in the city’s core during peak morning hours