LAHORE, July 1 The first monsoon rain in Lahore and several other cities in Punjab provided the much needed relief to people on Wednesday.

In Lahore, rain began early in the morning after dark clouds covered the sky and a pleasant wind made people forget the agony they faced during a spell of extremely hot and dry weather last week.

People enjoyed the fine morning to the full extent, and many opted to bathe in the rain to beat the heat and to seek relief against the warm indoors having no power.

Rain continued for quite some time. It was not heavy, but it washed the dirt-covered trees and plants.

It became sultry afterwards, but the morning rain kept the maximum temperature to 34 degrees Celsius as against 36 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. Humidity was 83 per cent in the morning and 48 per cent in the evening.

The Met office recorded 20mm of rain at the airport and 17mm at its Jail Road observatory, expecting more rain in the next 24 hours.

It also reported light rain in many other cities in Punjab, the NWFP, the Northern Areas and Kashmir because of, what it said, a westerly wave and incursion of moisture from the Arabian Sea.

According to it, Ganda Singhwala (Kasur) received 30mm of rain, Jassar (the Ravi) 28mm, Multan 12mm, Okara 8mm, Sialkot and Jhang 7mm, Faisalabad 6mm, Dera Ghazi Khan 5mm, Sargodha 2mm, Muzaffarabad 3mm, and Faisalabad , Sahiwal, Jhelum traces.