Halima Akhtar is struggling. The household aide has three children and is struggling to afford their daily needs. As the winter chill descends, she is at a loss as to how she can afford their winter clothes or warm blankets to protect them from the cold. She has been begging door-to-door for hand-me-downs and other donations of winter outfits.

Khosru Miah works as the driver of a van – a three-wheeled rickshaw used to transport freight. Like Halima, he doesn’t have the means to buy thick clothes to ward off the dropping temperatures. He gets by during the day, but his only refuge in the long, cold night are fires lit on the roadside.

Many people from lower income groups are suffering in Dhaka amid the sharp onset of the winter. According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, heavy fog will descend around midnight and persist into the morning over the next few days. This will further intensify the cold.

As the year turns, many parts of Bangladesh are weathering the sudden cold. A mild cold wave is sweeping across the northern districts and many areas are experiencing dense fog and a chilling northern wind.

The mercury has dipped to around 10 degrees Celsius in Syedpur, Nilphamari, Dinajpur and Pabna’s Ishwardi. Even at mid-day, the sun can rarely be seen. And the little sunshine that manages to peek through can’t dispel the cold.

“Moderate to heavy fog will fall from midnight to the morning for the next few days,” according to Azizur Rahman, director of the BMD. “In some parts of the country it may persist until the afternoon.”

The fog will make it feel even colder, he said.

“The temperature will be around 7-8 degrees Celsius, but it will feel lower. It might even feel as low as 2-3 degrees Celsius.”

The BMD’s long-term forecast for January says Bangladesh may experience one or two moderate cold waves throughout the month.

On Thursday, the BMD said the lowest temperature in the country was 8.4 degrees Celsius in Tetulia. A cold wave is sweeping over the Dinajpur and Panchagarh districts and will persist for a few days. The heavy fog may interrupt air, river, and road transport service.

The cold from the northern districts is starting to be felt in Dhaka too. For people like household aide Halima, it is a major source of worry.

“Until now, it hasn’t been too cold,” she said. “I thought that we wouldn’t suffer too badly this time. But now that the cold has come, I am struggling with the children. We can’t sleep with only a light blanket. The baby shivers with cold throughout the night.

“I don’t have the money to buy anything warm to protect against the cold. Things are expensive on the market. I have to budget carefully to even afford food.”

Halima says she struggled through last winter with some help.

“Last time I got a few torn clothes from here and there,” she said. “We are still making do with those. But they can’t keep out the cold.”

Van driver Khosru said, “For poor people, it’s the same whether it’s the heat or the cold. There’s no one to take care of us. In the morning, when there’s a little sun, it can still be comfortable. But at night, it’s so bad that it’s hard to sleep. I stay up late fanning a fire. It warms me up a bit. I can fall asleep then.”

Kashem Miah was on the road in Kalshi, sitting on a rickshaw wearing a shirt and holding flowers in his hand.

“I don’t have any warm clothes, so this is what I wear outside,” he said. “We don’t even have a proper place to sleep. How would we manage a way to stay warm?”