New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS): It was a foggy morning in the national capital on Tuesday with the air quality remaining "severe" and the minimum temperature recorded at 8.8 degrees Celsius, average for the season, the weather office said.

Drop in temperature is contributing to air quality deterioration to "severe" levels in Delhi-National Capital Region.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi at 9 a.m. was 409 (severe) against 403 (severe) on Monday recorded at 4 p.m., on a scale of 0 to 500.

"There was mist and shallow fog in the morning. The sky will remain mainly clear becoming partially cloudy in the later part of the day. Very light rain and thundershower is likely in some areas," an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

The humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 92 per cent, an unfavourable condition for pollutants to disperse.

The maximum temperature on Tuesday was likely to hover at around 23 degrees Celsius.

Monday was the second coldest day of the month with minimum temperature dipping to 7.6 degrees Celsius, one notch below season's average, while the maximum temperature settled at 23.8 degrees Celsius, one notch below the season's average.