Sporadic rain causes cold spell

Islamabad : Intermittent rains intensified cold in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Saturday.

It began raining on Friday night and the rainfall continued until Saturday evening sporadically causing slushy mess and puddles on roads due to poor drainage to the misery of motorists and commuters.

The Met Office said on Saturday evening that during the last 24 hours, Islamabad received 10 millimetres rain in Zero Point area, six millimetres in Saidpur, five in Golra and four in Bokra and New Airport areas, while five and three millimetres rainfall was reported in Rawalpindi's Chaklala and Shamsabad areas respectively.

The minimum temperature recorded in Islamabad was eight degree Celsius.

A weatherman said the rainy spell caused by a westerly wave would subside in the next 24 hours.

He said mainly very cold and dry weather was expected in most parts of the country, including Islamabad and Rawalpindi, on Sunday.

“Mainly very cold and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country. However, partly cloudy weather is expected in Malakand, Hazara divisions, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan,” he said. The rain threw traffic out of gear in twin cities, especially Rawalpindi. There're tailbacks at many places with the traffic cops struggling to regulate the movement of vehicles. Amid honking of horns by others, some motorists entered wrong lanes in order to make their way through traffic to destinations and thus, worsening the gridlock. Motorists also complained about faulty traffic lights at major intersections.