PESHAWAR: Saturday was the hottest day of the summer season in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa so far with the maximum temperature touching the 46 degree Celsius mark in two areas.

The hot and dry spell gripped Peshawar valley, southern districts, Malakand and parts of Hazara division in the day.

The local Met Office said the temperature went up to 46 degree Celsius in Dera Ismail Khan and Nowshera district’s Risalpur area.

The maximum and minimum temperature recorded in Peshawar was 45 and 29 degree Celsius respectively.

The weathermen said humidity in the air was 14 per cent in the provincial capital.

The blistering weather stressed out the residents of Peshawar most of whom observed the first fast of Ramazan in the day.

The people complained the frequent power outages virtually crippled their life.

The roads and markets wore a deserted look as most of the people opted to stay indoors in the daytime.

The Peshawar Electric Supply Company has begun to suspend electric supply for four-six hours in the day in the areas, where there was no loadshedding two days ago.

Several educational institutions announced they would reduce their timings by almost two hours from Monday due to the rising temperature and the start of Ramazan.

Though the government has notified the start of summer vacation in schools and colleges in the province from June 1, some private educational institutions have already closed their campuses for the purpose.

Also in the day, Timergara area of Lower Dir district and Pattan area of Kohistan district also witnessed a hot and dry weather as the mercury shot up to 41 degree Celsius.

The weathermen said the hot and dry spell was likely to persist for one week.

They forecast that the temperature could slightly drop on June 30.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2017