Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Pakistan is facing severe cold weather across the country and as low as minus 21°Celsius temperature recorded in Skardu on Monday. The northern areas remained under the shadow of blood curdling weather with Gupis -11°Celsius, Astore and Bagrote -10°C, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said in its weather report.
Dense fog prevailing in most plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh while in few districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during morning and night hours. Cold and dry weather reported elsewhere in the country while very cold in upper areas. Fog has engulfed plain areas of Punjab including Lahore, Gujranawala, Gujrat, Narowal, Sargodha, Layyah, Bhakar, Khushab, Mianwali, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Toba Tek Singh, Hafizabad, Jhang, Faisalabad, Okara, Sahiwal, Multan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, D.G Khan and Rajanpur.
Moderate to dense fog also reported in districts of upper Sindh including Sukkur, Larkana, Rohri, Padidan and Jacobabad during morning and night hours.
The minimum temperature in Karachi also went down to single digit at nine Celsius, while maximum temperatures will remain between 23 – 25 ºC, a weather report said. Humidity in the metropolis in the morning reported 70-80 percent, while it will remain between 15-25 pct in the evening today.
The fog also affected flight operations at Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore and Multan airports. Thick fog has also badly affected the flow of road traffic in several cities of Punjab and the train schedules. The met office recorded lowest minimum temperatures this morning at Skardu -21°Celsius, Gupis -11°C, Astore, Bagrote -10°C, Kalat -06°Celsius, Kalam, Gilgit, Parachinar -05°C, Bannu -04°C, Chilas, Murree and Quetta -03°Celsius.
According to a Motorway spokesman, several sections of Motorway M-1, M-3 and M-5 have been closed as visibility was very low. The Motorway police have advised the drivers to switch on fog lights while driving at very slow speed as the visibility was dropped to zero meters due to dense fog. The Motorway police have also requested the people to stay in home and avoid unnecessary travelling.
