Mercury goes down to minus 19 at Babusar Top in Gilgit Baltistan

ISLAMABAD: Gilgit Baltistan region facing the brunt of the blood curdling cold and dry weather with mercury goes down to -19 degree Celsius, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The temperatures in northern areas have further dropped to minus 19 degree Celsius at Babusar Top, -18°C at Skardu, -12°C at Astore, and -09°C at Gupis, the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s weather report said.

Meanwhile dense fog is likely to prevail in most plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh while in few districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during morning and night hours on Thursday (today) the met office forecast said.

Frost is also likely to be observed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Potohar region during the period.

Temperature at some major cities of Pakistan recorded this morning as follows:

Islamabad and Peshawar two degree Celsius, Lahore six, Karachi 10, Muzaffarabad and Murree 01, Quetta minus four and Gilgit minus six degree Celsius.

The dense fog blanketed entire plain areas of Punjab this morning with almost zero visibility and major sections of Motorway have been closed for all kind of traffic, officials said.

According to a Motorway police spokesman, M-3 from Lahore to Abdul Hakeem and M-4 from Pindi Bhattian to Sham Kot have been closed.

The city of Rawalpindi as well the adjoining areas have been engulfed by dense fog. The visibility range in the area has lowered to 10 meters as the traffic police has advised the citizens to use fog lights while commuting. Thick fog could affect the flight schedule at the Islamabad airport.

The M-5 from Multan to Sukkur has also been closed owing to dense fog.

The spokesman has advised the commuters to seek information from Helpline 130 prior to travelling on these sections of the Motorway.

Weather remained dry and cold in most parts of the country while very cold in upper areas.

This morning the lowest minimum temperatures were recorded at Skardu -18°C, Astore -12°C, Gupis -09°C, Bagrote -08°C, Kalat, Kalam -07°C, Hunza, Gilgit -06°C, Parachinar -05°C, Quetta -04°C, Dir and Rawlakot -03°C.