KARACHI, Feb 18: A cold weather snap gripped the city on Friday as cold winds blew and, in a chilly announcement, the Met Office said the mercury would drop further on Saturday.

The chief meteorologist, Arif Mahmood, said cold winds from Balochistan were pummelling the city at the moment. "The current cold weather spell will continue for a day or two and temperature will drop further," he said.

"The minimum temperature on Friday was nine degrees centigrade. According to our calculation, it will come down to seven degrees centigrade on Saturday. Besides, gusty winds will continue to blow over the city," he said.

Another official of the Pakistan Meteorological Department said that the minimum temperature dropped from Thursday's 14.5 degrees centigrade to 9.5 degrees centigrade on Friday. He added that the maximum temperature also came down to 19.5 degrees centigrade on Friday from 22 degrees centigrade on Thursday. Humidity, he said, rose to 13 per cent.