New Delhi, Overnight rains in Delhi that continued till Friday morning, bought down the mercury and led to a significant improvement in the city’s air quality.

The national capital, which received 33.5 millimetres of rain since Thursday, recorded a minimum temperature of 12.8 degrees Celsius, the meteorological department said.

The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 316 at 9.45 am which falls in the ‘very poor’ category as against 428 on Thursday morning. The AQI recorded in Ghaziabad was 326, Greater Noida 318, Noida 342, Gurgaon 242.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor” and 401-500 “severe”. An AQI above 500 falls in the “severe plus” category.

Mahesh Palawat, Skymet Weather, Vice President (Climate Change and Meteorology) said Delhi recorded 40.2 millimetres of rainfall since Thursday.