ISLAMABAD, June 21: A heatwave that has claimed dozens of lives and knocked down many unconscious in the plains of Punjab since the weekend persisted on Tuesday for the fifth day.

Five state-run hospitals in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad overflowed with victims of heat strokes, doctors of the hospitals told Dawn. “Every sixth patient arriving in hospitals today was a sunstroke victim,” they said.

Hospitals in central Punjab where temperatures hovered above 45 degrees Celsius must have suffered worse, the doctor said.

June 21, the longest day of the year, was also the hottest day of the season with mercury shooting up to record highs. It touched 47ºC in Jhelum and Sargodha, 46 in Lahore and Faisalabad, 45 in Peshawar and Multan, 44 in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, 43 in Muzaffarabad, 41 in Karachi, 37 in Gilgit and 36 in Quetta, according to the Met office.

Humidity was recorded at 44 per cent in Karachi, 31 in Quetta, 29 in Gilgit, 27 in Murree, 26 in Muzaffarabad, 24 in Multan, 20 in Faisalabad, 19 in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar, and 15 in Lahore.

The Meteorological Department has forecast mainly hot and dry weather with hot winds for most parts of the country, but rain with dust- and thunderstorm in isolated places of Sindh, southern Balochistan, Kashmir and adjoining hilly areas.

Hot and dry weather, with winds at night, has been forecast for Islamabad. The weather of Lahore and Peshawar will remain ‘very hot and dry’. The weather in Quetta and Gilgit is expected to be partly cloudy. Rain with dust- and thunderstorm is expected in Karachi and light rain in Murree and Muzaffarabad.

The Met office said a low pressure, which emerged over northeast Arabian sea on Monday, had moved north-westward and was likely to advance westward. Under its influence, winds at sea and along coast might blow from southeast/northeast. Sea conditions are likely to be rough near coast and very rough in deep sea.