ISLAMABAD: Mercury is likely to drop to 0°C in the capital on Sunday night due to an incoming westerly wave coupled with northern winds arriving from the very cold mountainous areas.

Saturday witnessed partly cloudy weather in Rawalpindi and Islamabad along with other areas of the Potohar region, and there were chances of drizzle in the capital early on Sunday.

Islamabad will be mainly cold and dry on Sunday and the fresh weather development is expected to bring light rainfall on Monday. But the conditions in Galiyat, including Murree and Hazara, will have a chilly effect on the twin cities.

The minimum temperature in Islamabad during the night between Friday and Saturday was 1°C, and it was likely to decline further on Sunday night in the wake of snowfall in Murree and Hazara.

The minimum temperature in Murree on Saturday was -1°C and light rain and snowfall on Saturday night and Sunday could drop the mercury to -3°C.

The Met Office said a shallow westerly wave was affecting northwest Balochistan and upper parts of the country. As a result, mainly cold and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country.

The cloudy weather is expected to bring light rain along with snowfall over mountains at isolated places in northern Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir during morning hours of Sunday. Similarly, some isolated rain is expected in central Sindh.

As the pattern moves further into the country, the weather would turn from cold to very cold in northern areas as the clouds were descending from Siberia region.

The Met Office said precipitation in most of northern Punjab would reduce the minimum temperature to 3 to 5°C, and it would be beneficial for the wheat crop.

The coldest area in the country on Saturday was Skardu with minimum temperature of -20°C followed by Astore -12°C, Parachinar, Bagrote Gupis -11°C, Hunza -7°C, Kalam -6°C and Rawalakot -4°C.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2020