RAWALPINDI: Fog enveloped the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Tuesday morning, disturbing flight and train schedule.

The fog started creeping from 1am on Tuesday and kept the atmosphere hazy till 8:30am. The visibility dropped to 50 meters in patches affecting domestic flights to and from the airport.

“As the visibility improved after 9:00 am, many early morning trains were rescheduled,” a railways official said and added the trains from Karachi and Central Punjab arrived late on Tuesday. The early-morning fog dropped temperature and severe cold wave gripped Rawalpindi and Islamabad, creating problems for the people who are already suffering from shortages of natural gas. Due to cold weather, the gas pressure was too low in many areas of the twin cities.

However, sun overpowered the fog while bringing warmth for the people.

The prevailing fog phenomena has adversely affected the routine activities and all means of transportation including roads, airports and railways faced disruption.

Motorway police said that the travelers of Motorway had been asked to use fog lights and slow the speed due to dense fog in the inner Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.

An official of Pakistan Meteorological Department said that the temperature was recorded in the capital and adjoining garrison town on Tuesday at zero degrees Celsius and forecast dense fog on Wednesday. He said that there were no chances of rain but the fog is likely to grip the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad for the next few days.

The Met Office has predicted mainly cold and dry weather in most plain areas of the country. Dense fog/smog is likely to persist in Islamabad, plain areas of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and upper Sindh.

“Dense fog is likely to continue over the plain areas of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and upper Sindh during next two days. Day temperatures are likely to remain below normal in most parts of Punjab due to dense fog,” said an official.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2024