LAHORE, June 6: A strong windstorm was followed by heavy rain here on Sunday night and scores of trees and billboards were uprooted as a result. The winds, which had a velocity of 119km per hour at the airport, and the accompanying rain broke the spell of extremely hot and oppressive weather.

The weather had turned harsh because of moisture from the Arabian Sea, and the storm and the rain were also caused by it, said the local Met office. Many trees were uprooted along the canal road and in the main city, making it hard to drive.

The storm continued for quite sometime and subsided because of the rain that followed. The impact of the wind smashed many a window pane. It was still raining when this report was filed late in the night.

Weather turned pleasant as temperature dropped. Power supply remained suspended in a majority of localities during the storm. Earlier, repeated disruption of power supply during the previous night and on Sunday made it hard for the people to brave the harsh weather. Suspension of water supply in many areas added to miseries of people.

The day's maximum temperature was 39.7 degrees Celsius but 49 per cent humidity in the morning and 33 per cent in the afternoon turned weather sultry. It was suffocating indoors. Chief Meteorologist Shaukat Awan said the moisture had reached Lahore because of the high temperatures in southern Punjab, Balochistan and the adjoining parts of Sindh.