Various parts of the country continue to be in the grip of severe cold wave and fog and the situation is likely to persist for the next few days. According to the Meteorological Department‚ rain and snowfall is expected in the northern and upper parts of the country on Friday and Saturday which will reduce the fog. The coldest place in the country during the last 24 hours was Skardu where the temperature dropped to -17 degrees Celsius followed by -15 in Astore, -11 in Hunza, -8 in Gilgit, -7 in Dir, -6 in Parachinar and Malam Jabba, -5 in Drosh and -6 degrees Celsius in Quetta. People in Kashmir, Malamjabba, Kurram Agency and Hazara Division also faced extreme winters while the plain areas of Punjab and Sindh remained covered under thick fog. A passenger coach turned turtle in Muzaffargarh due to dense haze that wounded six passengers. According to the Met Office, the current cold wave will continue in the country, including Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan for the next three days. The mercury dropped to -2 in Faisalabad‚ zero in Lahore and 2 degrees Celsius in Islamabad. Meanwhile, Lahore to Peshawar and Kot Momin to Faisalabad Motorway were closed for traffic due to thick fog. Air traffic at Islamabad airport was also suspended due to fog, a private news channel reported. The Motorway Police said that the highway had been closed as visibility level dropped to zero. The Motorway would be reopened for vehicular traffic after visibility
improvement, they said.
