LAHORE: Temperatures dropped further and fog thickened in Punjab, the plains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and upper Sindh on Thursday.

Fog continued to persist the whole day in many cities of Punjab and the fall in maximum temperature closer to Wednesday night’s minimum created a chilly air.

In Lahore, the fog disappeared at around noon, but mist continued to block sun. Wind was freezing and people sought cozy places to stay warm. The maximum temperature was 12.5 degrees Centigrade and the minimum on Wednesday night was 4.5 degrees C.

The Lahore airport was closed during the early hours of Thursday because of dense fog. Many flights were diverted to other cities or cancelled.

The Motorway was also closed from Pindi Bhattian to Lahore, and to Faisalabad, while traffic moved slowly at the National Highway from Rawalpindi to Rahim Yar Khan.

The Met office reported thick fog in almost all Punjab cities and in Sukkur.

The worst-hit cities were Jhang, Sahiwal, Sialkot and Mandi Bahauddin where it never cleared.

Mountainous regions are experiencing sub-zero temperatures.

Skardu was the coldest place in the country on Thursday with minimum temperature dropping to -11 degrees C.

The Met office forecast mainly very cold and partly cloudy weather with dense fog in Lahore in the next 24 hours. Thunderstorm/light rain with light snowfall over the hills could occur at one or two places of Malakand division and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2014