It was bright, cold and windy in the national capital on Thursday. The temperature is likely to hover between 9 and 22 degrees Celsius, the Met added.

An India Meteorological Department official said: "The city will witness strong surface winds during the day." This has kept the air quality index under the 'moderate' category at 125.

"The western disturbance has positively influenced the air quality of Northwest India. Marginal deterioration in AQI to the higher end of moderate to lower end of the poor category is expected by Friday. 

"Further deterioration to the lower end of very poor category is forecast for Saturday," SAFAR said.