The Indian Meteorological Department had predicted minimum temperatures to hover between 1 and 2 degrees Celsius; the temperature, however, soared as compared to Thursday’s 3.4 degrees Celsius.

“We were expecting chilly north westerly winds to continue their onslaught over much of North India, but a western disturbance changed its direction. We can now expect the temperature to gradually start rising,” explained an officer at the Safdarjung Meteorological Department.

The speculation began when BBC forecasted that Delhi would freeze at zero degree Celsius, the coldest since 70 years, on February 1.

Thereafter, the Met Department said that while it may not dip to zero, February 1 would definitely be one of the coldest days of the year.

Even as late as Friday evening, BBC forecasted the minimum temperature as 1 degree Celsius, while the Met department recorded it at 4 degrees Celsius.

“Different forecasting agencies use different methods for predicting temperatures, and this confusion was caused due to conflicting forecasts by a certain agency,” a Met Department official said.

However, despite the slight increase in temperature, it’s still several degrees below normal. Thursday recorded a minimum temperature of 13 degrees, 9 notches above Friday’s.

Saturday is likely to see a minimum temperature of 5 degrees Celsius, with likelihood of light rain and thundershowers towards the evening or Sunday morning.