LAHORE, Jan 2: Dense fog blanketed Lahore and several other cities again on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, disrupting air, rail and road traffic for the second day running.

Fog added to the chill especially at night, forcing people to remain indoors.

The Met office expected a brief interval in the foggy weather because of a westerly wave which, it said, could cause light rain in the Northern Areas and develop clouds over Lahore and several other cities during the next two days.

Fog, which started developing in Lahore around 9:30pm on Wednesday night, was finally cleared at 1:30pm on Thursday. It had reduced visibility to only 50 metres at 9:45pm on Wednesday night which was improved to 800 metres at 9am on Thursday.

The foggy weather dropped the maximum temperature to 12.6 degrees C and the minimum to 5 degrees C.

Driving again was a problem on Wednesday night and in the early hours of Thursday especially on roads, having no streetlights. Biting chill was another problem for the motorcyclists.

Drop in the Mercury led to the extra use of gas heaters, creating a shortage of the utility in many areas of the city.

According to authorities at Lahore Airport, flight operation remained suspended during entire Wednesday night. This disturbed the flight schedule and they had to depart during the day.

The authorities urged the people to check with the inquiry about the departure time of their flights before leaving for the airport to avoid inconvenience. They said they were struggling to clear the backlog of two days.

The railways inquiry office also reported delay in the arrival of trains which, it said, were being driven at a slow pace to avoid accidents.

Meanwhile, the Met office reported dense fog also in Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Multan and Shorkot. It said fog also covered the main highways in these cities, especially at night.

For Lahore, it forecast fog for Thursday night and a partly cloudy weather for Friday, expecting light rain in Hazara, Kashmir, Gilgit and Skardu during the next 24 hours.

Parachinar was the coldest place in the country on Thursday with a minimum temperature of -11 degrees C. It was followed by Skardu -10 degrees C, Astore and Kalam -9 each, Gilgit-7, Dir -3, Muzaffarabad and Saidu Sharif -2 each, and Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Kamra, Risalpur, Kakul and Balakot -1 degrees C each.