Dense fog causes closure of parts of Motorway in Punjab

LAHORE: A dense layer of fog resulted in closure of several routes on the Motorway on Friday morning, as foggy conditions prevailed in plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh overnight.

The M2 route leading from Kot Momin to Lahore and Faisalabad, M3 route from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad and M4 route from Faisalabad to Gojra have been completely closed to traffic owing to the persisting fog.

Authorities have cautioned drivers to reduce speed and use fog lights on the highway to avoid any untoward incident.

Visibility suffered in parts of Punjab due to the fog. In Gujranwala and Multan, visibility dropped to 150 and 180 metres, respectively. Visibility was recorded at 35 metres and 40 metres in Sialkot and Faisalabad, respectively.

Mainly cold and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country over the next 24 hours. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, more rain-thunderstorm (with snowfall over the hills) is expected at a few places in Malakand division and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Very cold weather conditions are likely to prevail in northern parts of the country including Quetta.

In Karachi, the weather is expected to stay cold and dry over the next 24 hours, with minimum temperature recorded at 10°C. Humidity level was recorded at 52 percent, the Met Office said.

The lowest minimum temperatures yesterday were recorded at Kalat, Kalam, Skardu (-08 °C), Quetta (-07°C), Dalbandin, Gupis, Malamjabba, Astore, Parachinar (-05°C).