ISLAMABAD: The heatwave in the twin cities has prolonged with the maximum temperature remaining above 40°C.

The Met Office on Saturday said the ongoing heatwave would continue for another two weeks. The current hot and dry weather is being considered as an unusual pattern because traditionally precipitation used to arrive in Islamabad after a few hot days.

Though the maximum temperature in the federal capital was still far below the highest recorded at 47°C in June 2005, the current spell of heatwave has extended for more than three weeks.

Met Office Director General Dr Ghulam Rasul said the prolonged heat spell without any rainfall was unusual for Islamabad.

“Apart from the climate change human errors too account for such conditions. We have been chopping too many trees whereas plantations have never been at a par with the rate of tree felling,” Dr Rasul added.

The Met Office said the first half of June would face intense heat across the country and the temperature would remain 1-2°C above the long-term average in the plain areas.

Since June is traditionally the driest month in South Asia, its second half invites pre-monsoon rainfalls.

The Met Office said during the second half of the month, weather was likely to remain wetter than the long-term average and two to three rainy spells were likely to occur in upper parts of the country, including northeast Punjab, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Due to the rains, the mercury level will decline by two to four degrees compared to the first half of the month.

The Met Office predicted pre-monsoon rains to begin in most parts of the country in the last week of June.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2018