Rainfall forecast amid searing temperatures

Islamabad : With Islamabad and Rawal-pindi sweltering in high temperatures, the Met Office has forecast a welcome rainfall today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday).

The mercury has gone up to 41 degree Centigrade in the two cities forcing people to stay indoors in the daytime to prevent heat exhaustion.

According to a weatherman, mainly hot and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country and

very hot in eastern Balochistan, Sindh and plain areas of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtun-khwa on Monday and Tuesday. He, however, said rain coupled with dust and thunderstorms was expected to fall at isolated places in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The weatherman also forecast rainfall in Malakand, Hazara, Mardan, Peshawar, Kohat, Sargodha and Gujranwala divisions and parts of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The doctors warned people that extreme heat could harm their health and could even claim life.

Dr Wasim Khawaja of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences said severe heat wave dehydrates the body and thus, causing heat exhaustion or heat stroke, which needed the immediate treatment.

He said moving to a cool place, drinking plenty of water, and cooling oneself by a shower or a wet piece of cloth could stop the body from overheating.

The medical expert said the victims of heat stroke should be placed in a cool place; ventilation should be ensured by opening windows or using a fan, and clothes should be loosened before they should be sprinkled with cold water. He added that if conscious, the heatstroke victims should be given water to drink before they're shifted to the nearby hospital for treatment.