LAHORE, March 23: A strong windstorm that was accompanied by rain lashed the city on Saturday evening, uprooting trees and billboards and tripping around 50 electricity feeders.

Almost the entire city plunged into darkness as the windstorm disrupted the power supply which was not restored in most of localities till 9pm.

A woman and a child got injured as a tree fell on a rickshaw they were traveling by during the storm on Empress Road. They were shifted to the Mayo Hospital.

Hailstones were also reported from some parts of the city.

The Met Office reported windstorms and rain in many cities in Punjab and upper parts of the country because of a persisting westerly wave. Hailstones were reported in Sahiwal, Multan and Khanewal, affecting crops there.

The storm lashed Lahore at around 7:25pm having a maximum gust of 92km per hour at the airport and 61km per hour in the city. It was followed by rain which was heavy and accompanied by hailstones.

Around 50 power feeders tripped because of the storm, disrupting supply to most of localities. This happened when people were expected to switch off lights to observe the Erath Hour.

Rain and storm, however, lowered the temperature and made weather pleasant.

The Met Office said Sibbi received 47mm of rain, Kohat and Malam Jabba 45mm (each), Bannu 33mm, Dir 27mm, Kalam 22mm, Dera Ismail Khan 21mm, Zhob 18mm, Saidu Sharif 16mm, Drosh, Kalat and Lower Dir 14mm each, Peshawar (Cantt) 13mm, Panjgur 11mm, Peshawar (city) and Chitral 10mm each, Mianwali and Dalbandin 9mm, Mirkhani and Quetta 8mm each, Kakul 7mm, Risalpur 6mm, Pattan and Dera Gazi Khan 5mm each, Lasbella and Samungli 4mm each, Cherat, Bhakkar and Murree 3mm each, Khuzdar and Garhi Dupatta 2mm each, Chakwal, Noorpur Thal and Muzaffarabad 1mm each, Mianwali 15mm and Multan received 9mm.

The Met Office expected scattered thunderstorm/rain over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and Punjab in the next 24 hours. Isolated thunderstorm/rain may also occur over upper Sindh.