RAWALPINDI: The cold wave maintained its grip over the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Thursday as the minimum temperature was recorded at 1°C.

The lowest temperature of this season till date in Islamabad was recorded at -0.7°C in December 28, 2010. The Met Office recorded visibility 50 meters at Zero Point as fog started engulfing Islamabad at 12 midnight and continued till 10am.

The fog disturbed the early morning domestic and international flights, rail services and vehicular movement on motorway.

“The current cold wave and fog will continue for next three to four days. However, it will settle down after cloudy weather from December 30” the official of Meteorological Department, told Dawn.

He said the intensity of the cold wave and fog would decrease slowly by end of next week.

He said the cold and foggy conditions were likely to continue in plain areas of Punjab, upper Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the minimum temperature in Rawalpindi and Islamabad was recorded at 1°C.

He said that it was not unusual cold weather as in December the twin cities witnessed minimum temperature 0 or below 0°C.

Amid low gas pressure, the biting cold has added to the miseries of the people.

In these circumstances, the number of people complaining of cold-related ailments has shot up over the last few days in the city hospitals. Doctors said the patients were mostly children and the elderly.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2019