05 January 2004	Monday	12 Ziqa'ad 1424

LAHORE, Jan 4: It was the coldest day of the season so far in Lahore, where mercury touched as low as 1.8 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature in the provincial metropolis , which was covered by thick fog like many other parts of the province, had fallen by 4.2 degrees since Saturday.

According to the local met office, humidity rose to 100 per cent at 1am and visibility was reduced by fog. Weather pundits have forecast dry and hazy weather in the central and southern Punjab and partly cloudy weather with chances of rain in upper Punjab and the Northern Areas for the next 24 hours.

According to sources, three incoming and four outgoing international flights were affected by fog. PIA's flights coming from London and Damam were five and six hours behind schedule while Aero Asia's flight from Dubai was over 10 hours late.

Similarly, the PIA flights scheduled to take off for Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris early in the morning, departed in the afternoon when visibility improved. A Mashed-bound flight which was to depart at 12.30pm was delayed by more than four hours.

Trains' schedule was also affected. Awam Express' arrival was delayed by more than five hours, Tezro's by six, Karakuram's by four, Allama Iqbal Express' by seven and Winter Express' by five hours.-APP