LAHORE, May 29: Frequent power outages left people at the mercy of the severe heatwave that extended to central and upper parts of the country on Tuesday.

It forced them brave the hottest day of the summer so far without indoor cooling by air-conditioners or fans, and even water.

And neither the Met office forecast any immediate relief against the harsh weather nor the Lesco officials promised any chance of the reduction in the power loadshedding.

The Met office said the severe heatwave conditions were likely to prevail over Punjab, plains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, upper/central Sindh and southern/eastern parts of Balochistan in the next 24 hours. The day temperature may rise up to 48-50 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.

The highest maximum temperature in the country, 48.5 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Sibbi on Tuesday. Noorpur Thal was the hottest town in Punjab with a maximum temperature of 47.5 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature in Bahawalnagar was 47 degrees Celsius, in Bhakkar 46, and in Multan, Jhang, Jhelum, Faisalabad and Khanpur 45 degrees Celsius.

It was 44.5 degrees Celsius in Lahore with 31 per cent humidity in the morning and just 15 per cent in the evening. The combination of hot and dry wind and blazing sun made weather unbearable especially for the elderly and the children.