ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: The Pakistan Meteorological Department forecast on Monday widespread rain in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, upper Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

Scattered and heavy snowfall is likely in mountainous areas and isolated rain in south Punjab, upper Sindh and north-east Balochistan.

A strong westerly weather system is affecting most parts of the country and likely to persist for three days, generating rain and snowfall.

A spokesman for the Met office said that heavy snowfall, from three to four feet, was likely over the hills of high altitude (more than 7,000 feet) and two to three feet over the hills of lower altitude (5,000-7,000 feet) on Tuesday.

The heavy snowfall may cause closure of link roads.

The spokesman said the threat of avalanches and landslides in several areas could not be ruled out.

The lowest minimum temperature recorded on Monday was Kalat -7 degrees Celsius, Drosh, Astore, Gupis and Hunza -4 C, Murree -3 C and Skardu -2 C.

The rainfall recorded in Risalpur was 84mm, Saidu Sharif 83, Peshawar (PAF) 79, Chirat 70, Lower Dir 67, Rawalpindi 62, Islamabad, Kohat, Garidupatta 61, Islamabad (Golra) 58, Islamabad (Saidpur) 55, Mianwali 50, Pattan 49, Bannu 48 and Rawalpindi (Shamsabad) 47mm.

The rainfall recorded in Dir was 40mm, Khuzdar 39, Mangla 36, Kalat 34, Muzaffarabad 30, Murree 29, Balakot 25, Chitral 24, Joharabad 23, Bahawalnagar and Noorpur Thal 22, Sialkot and Kotli 21, Kakul and Chakwal 20, Lahore 19, Sialkot 17, Gujranwala and Bhakkar 12, Okara, Bahawalpur and Sargodha 11mm.

The snowfall recorded in Malam Jabba was 3.5 feet, Kalam two feet, Drosh one foot, Dir eight inches, Murree seven inches, Chitral six inches and Skardu five inches. —APP