The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Thursday issued a warning for heavy rain across Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and advised citizens to stay alert.

Monsoon rains fall across the region from June to September, offering respite from the summer heat and are crucial to replenishing water supplies. However, heavy downpours also trigger deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained, or densely populated areas.

In a post on X, the PMD said at 3:30pm that a “rain-bearing weather system” was forming in the Poonch, Bagh, Haveli and Sudhnoti areas of Kashmir.

According to the post, the system was likely to cause “heavy rain with strong winds and thunderstorms” during the next 2-5 hours in the above-mentioned areas as well as Azad Kashmir’s Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Rawalakot, Bhimber, Mirpur and Neelum Valley.

Other areas that could come under the rain spell were KP’s Mansehra, Abbottabad, Haripur and Kohistan, along with Murree, Galyat, and surrounding areas.

The PMD has advised the public to take precautions and stay updated.

At least 71 people have died — over half of them children — and another 86 have been injured in rain-related incidents across KP since the start of the monsoon season in late June, according to the latest figures by KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

On Sunday, the nationwide death toll from monsoon rains rose to 299, up from 234, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

On Saturday, the PMD forecast more rain, with wind-thundershowers in the upper and central regions of the country over this week. The department asked provincial disaster management authorities and district administrations to take preventative measures against possible urban flooding.