The minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 12.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday, two notches above the season's average, the weather department said. Generally cloudy skies with very light rain or thundershowers are expected during the day, an India Meteorological Department bulletin said.

The relative humidity at 8.30 am was 96 per cent.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) was 366 at 9 am, according to the data by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.

While six out of 37 monitoring stations (Punjabi Bagh, Bawana, Mundka, Nehru Nagar and Jahangirpuri) recorded AQI in the "severe" category, at 30 stations it was "very poor".

According to the weather department, the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 24 degrees Celsius.

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