Cold wave, along with thick fog, continued yesterday and disrupted normal life, especially in the northern region.

The mild cold spell sweeping over the country, especially the northwestern regions, may improve from tomorrow, meteorologists say.

“Moderate to thick fog may occur at places over the country during midnight to morning. If the foggy situation reduces, the chilling condition is likely to improve from Sunday,” said Ruhul Kuddus, a meteorologist at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

The foggy weather condition improved yesterday, he added.

The lowest temperature was recorded at 8.4 degrees Celsius in Chuadanga yesterday, while it was 7.9 degrees Celsius in  the same district on Thursday, he said.

Yesterday’s lowest temperatures were 9.8 degrees Celsius in Rajshahi, 9 degrees Celsius in Jashore, and 10 degrees Celsius in Lalmonirhat. 

In Dhaka, the BMD yesterday recorded lowest temperature at 13.4 degrees Celsius, while maximum was 16.2 degrees Celsius. 

“Actually, the weather may start to be normal if we see sunlight,” said Bazlur Rashid, another meteorologist at BMD.

In its forecast for the next 24 hours from 9:00am yesterday, the Met office said weather might remain dry with partly cloudy sky over the country.

The mild cold wave sweeping over the areas of Rajshahi, Jashore, and Chuadanga may continue. Night and day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country. 

The severity of cold is higher this year than that of previous years as the cold wave from the Himalayan side is sweeping through the northern region, according to the Tentulia Met office.

Our Lalmonirhat correspondent reports that the cold spell severely affected the people’s day-to-day activities.  

Due to dense fog, vehicles were moving slowly in the district town, using headlights.

In Dinajpur, poor people were the ultimate sufferers.

“It is hard to stay outside due to cold accompanied by strong winds,” reports our district correspondent, quoting Rabiul Islam, a rickshaw puller of Rangpur city.

He urged the government to distribute warm clothes among the poor. 

Ashraful Islam, a microbus driver in Dinajpur’s Birganj upazila, said he made a round trip to Banglabandha in Panchagarh yesterday, using headlights due to the dense fog.

Mahmudul Alam, deputy commissioner of Dinajpur, said around 100,000 pieces of warm clothes had already been distributed in his district.