New Delhi, Jan 3 (IANS) The fog in the capital cleared as the day progressed Sunday but the flight schedule was affected due to a backlog from the previous day, airport officials said. Parts of the city experienced light showers as well, causing Delhiites to shiver in the bone-chilling cold.

"There was fog around midnight but it started clearing by early Sunday morning, which helped us in maintaining the operations," an airport official said.

But at least six domestic flights - including those to Amritsar, Srinagar and Leh - were cancelled due to poor weather at their destinations. Some international flights were delayed by a few hours around midnight due to dense fog at that time. Twelve domestic flights were also delayed, the official added.

At least 45 domestic departures and 25 arrivals were delayed by three to eight hours while 17 international flights were diverted Saturday due to thick fog over the national capital and a cable fault at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

The visibility on the runways at the airport Sunday improved to 600 metres. Thick fog Saturday had severely hit services at the airport and the heavy backlog led to cancellation of flights Sunday.

The visibility on the runways Saturday had fallen to below 125 metres against the minimum 150 metres required for a flight to take off or land, leading to cancellation or diversion of nearly 40 domestic and international flights.

An Air India London-Delhi flight which was diverted to Mumbai Saturday left passengers high and dry. They had no clue about take-off or landing for over 10 hours before they returned to the national capital.

Even as the fog cleared comparitively than the day before, the city experienced intermittent winter showers Sunday, making the capital's residents shiver in the cold.

"Delhi received 1 mm of rainfall today. Rainfall in winters is generally because of the western disturbances and this time too it's because of the same over parts of Jammu and Kashmir," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The official, however, added that the skies will clear by Monday.

Sarita Nagpal, a home-maker, said: "It has suddenly become so cold that I find it difficult to cope with it. On top of that the rain has made the matters worse. You don't feel like doing anything except sit at home in front of the room heater."

Delhi Sunday recorded a minimum temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above what is the average for this time of the season. The maximum temperature was recorded at 15.3 degrees Celsius, seven degrees below the average, making it one of the coldest days of the season.

"The reducing gap between the minimum and maximum temperature in the city is the main reason for the chill. It will continue for the next few days. This is also because of the western disturbance," the IMD official said.