26 December 2004	Sunday	13 Ziqa'ad 1425

LAHORE, Dec 25: Lahore and several other cities in the central and northern Punjab remained covered with fog on Saturday which also kept temperatures low. According to the Met office, Quetta was the coldest place in the country with minimum -7 degrees Celsius.

Thick fog continued to cover Lahore on Friday night and on Saturday morning. It kept visibility to 50 meters from midnight to 5:30am. Fog cleared at around 11am but it remained misty during the rest of the day.

The maximum temperature was 17 degrees C and the minimum 7.5. Fog and 100 per cent humidity maintained bite in the air.

The Met office reported similar weather conditions in Faisalabad, Shorkot, Sargodha and up to Rawalpindi.

It has forecast fog or mist in the morning in almost all cities in the province during the next 24 hours.

"It is as chilly as in the good old days and the same weather pattern would continue to persist for another few days," Chief Meteorologist Shaukat Awan said.

He expected rain in most parts of the country sometime during next week.

According to the Met office, the minimum temperatures recorded in different cities of the province on Saturday are; Rawalpindi: 2 degree centigrade, Jhelum: 5 C, Murree: 1 C, 8 C, Sargodha: 4 C, Mianwali: 4 C, Faisalabad: 5 C, Shorkot: 4 C, Sialkot: 5 C, Multan: 7 C, Bahawalpur: 7 C, Bahawalnagar: 7 C and Khanpur: 6 C.