The chill in the capital worsened Monday as the city experienced its coldest day of the season even as temperatures rose slightly in north India.

Cold weather conditions continued in Delhi as it witnessed a maximum temperature of 14.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest recorded this season.

Weather department officials forecast a further fall in night temperatures though the sun shone intermittently during Monday.

Small bonfires continued to provide the much-needed heat to thousands in the city. Night guards were seen gathered around blazes, while the homeless just about managed to keep themselves warm by huddling close to each other.

"It is quite comfortable to sleep in the open during summers. But right now I barely move due to the freezing air. Liquor is the only saviour," said Ranjit Negi, a guard at Surya Apartments in Rohini.

A thick fog descended on the Indira Gandhi International Airport here Monday morning, disrupting flights for almost two hours.

The runway visibility range (RVR) was just 175 metres at around 8 a.m. as against the RVR of 350 m required for normal functioning of flights.

This went down further to 125 metres by around 9 a.m. before the situation improved an hour later.

"A few flights were delayed between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., but after that visibility improved considerably to 1,600 metres by 11 a.m.," an airport official said.

Meanwhile there was a slight thaw in conditions in most parts of north India, which saw a marginal rise in day temperatures.

The maximum temperature in Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla, which had Sunday touched one degree Celsius, rose to five degrees Celsius.

It was the same with Dehra Dun, the Uttaranchal capital, where the maximum temperature rose to 13 degrees Celsius from Sunday's 10. 

The mercury did not move from Sunday's maximum temperature of 15 degrees Celsius in Chandigarh.