The blanket of fog that wrapped itself across the sky delayed overland, river and air travels amid the cold snap that pushed this winter's lowest temperature in Bangladesh to 9 degrees Celsius in Jessore yesterday, down from Thursday's 9.2 in the same district.

Flights of Biman Bangladesh, Gulf, Emirates and Kuwait airlines from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Karachi, Kuwait, London, Riyadh and Rome arrived two to 19 hours late at Zia International Airport because of dense fog, the flight operation wing of the airport said.

The morning flight of private GMG airlines to Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport was cancelled and a few Biman flights arrived late at the airport, said The Daily Star Staff Correspondent in Chittagong.

As the chill wind cut through the country, people, especially the elderly and homeless in southwestern districts, lit bonfires to fend off the bite of cold and urban people in Dhaka preferred to stay indoors -- bundled up in warm clothes as yesterday was the day-off for most.

"The cold feels intense because of fog that absorbs body heat," Samerandra Karmakar, deputy director of the meteorological department, told The Daily Star earlier.

Yesterday's lowest temperature in Dhaka was 12.8 degrees Celsius, down from 13 Thursday and the highest at 15.1 degrees Celsius, down from 17 the same day in a country that experienced its record lowest temperature in 1968 when mercury slid to 2.8 degrees Celsius in Srimangal.

Launch and ferry operators said the sunless foggy weather was delaying their services for hours. Some local and inter-city trains to northern districts were stranded for 10 hours, while long-haul buses were operating slowly with headlights on.

"The weather over the next couple of days may be even colder and the cold spell that hit Jessore, Chuadanga and Rajshahi the most will spread to some other districts with the same intensity," a weatherman said.

Two infants froze to death in Nilphamari, one of the cold-hit districts, on Wednesday and Thursday. The dead are 16-day-old son of Hossain Ali of Jakiganj village in Sadar upazila and 22-day-old daughter of Solaiman of Dhobadanga village in Gorgram union.

Our correspondents from northern districts report: Sunday's rain attended by cold wind rushing from the northern direction touching the Himalayan range worsened the situation.

Hundreds of monga-affected people in the north, especially in shoal areas of the Teesta, are reeling from the cold.

The cold spell in Chittagong was triggered by the influence of a low in the south Bay, the local meteorological office said.

Traffic on roads and highways thinned, as the chill continued without sunshine. The foggy weather system disrupted ship movement in and out of Chittagong port.