LAHORE, April 21: Lahorites experienced the hottest day of the summer on Sunday with the mercury soaring to 43 degrees C from Saturday’s 42.3 degrees C.

Repeated power breakdowns and absence of water made it hard for people especially children to brave the hot weather.

In many homes people could not cook food and they had to fetch water from other places. The worst hit areas were the Walled City particularly its Lohari Gate and Bismillah Street where people could not get a single drop of water since early morning. The situation remained the same till late in the evening, making people to retire without preparing for work on Monday.

The other areas affected by prolonged power breakdowns included Multan Road and its adjacent localities, Icchra, Misri Shah and Samanabad.

Meanwhile, the local Met office reported that almost the entire country remained in the grip of hot and dry weather on Sunday with over 40 degrees C temperature in majority cities. It said there was no chance of any relief and the temperature might increase on Monday.

The Met office, however, predicted chances of light rain in the Northern Areas, Peshawar and in Azad Kashmir in the next 24 hours with no impact on the weather conditions in the Punjab and elsewhere in the country.