Mercury dropped as low as 5.6 degrees Celsius in Karachi early Friday morning, breaking the ten-year record for the lowest temperature in the port city. Before this, 6.5 degrees Celsius was the city’s lowest minimum temperature recorded in 2014, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PDM). The maximum temperature is expected to range between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius during the day, it said. Wind speed is currently eight to ten kilometres per hour. The weather department said the cold wave would subside in few days with the entry of a new weather system in the country. Moreover,at least four people, a woman among them, were injured in incidents of celebratory firing reported from various parts of the port city to herald the new year. According to police, they received as many as 22 complaints of aerial firing, after which first information reports (FIRs) were registered at Jackson, Darakshan and Clifton police stations. The police said eight suspects have been arrested for resorting to aerial firing despite ban. Besides, as many bikers was also rounded up for reckless racing and one-wheeling. Sindh police had launched a WhatsApp helpline for citizens to shoot and share videos of aerial firing on New Year’s Eve so law enforcers can take action against violators. Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi GhulamNabiMemon asked the netizens for help in discouraging the practice by sending videos of elements indulging in celebratory gunfire on set up WhatsApp number. Cold and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country. However very cold weather is expected in Upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, north Balochistan, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Fog is likely to prevail in Plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh. The lowest minimum temperature recorded in the country was -17.7 degrees Celsius in Astore.
