LAHORE, Jan 16: Early clearance of fog and sunshine for a longer period of time increased Thursday’s maximum temperature in Lahore to 14.5 degrees Celsius, which had dipped to a record 9.3 degrees on Wednesday.

The minimum temperature was 3.6 degrees C and the Met office foresaw further increase in mercury on Friday because of cloudy weather.

Lahore and several cities in the Punjab, the NWFP and the northern areas have been hit by a severe cold weather for the past 15 days or so.

Minimum temperature of Islamabad was 2 degrees C, Multan 4, Bahawalpur 6, Faisalabad 7, Kalam -6, Astore -4, Chitral -2 and Gilgit -1.

The Met office has predicted partly cloudy weather for Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan during the next 24 hours.

It expected chances of light rain with snow over the hills in Malakand, Mardan, Hazara, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit and Skardu.