LAHORE - Parts of the country including Lahore received rainfall of varying intensities on Wednesday with the experts predicting the wet spell to continue for a couple of days.

Rain thunderstorm occurred at scattered places in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, upper Punjab, Islamabad, Quetta, Kalat divisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Rains, snowfall over the hills and winds helped maintain mercury to a low level, increasing chill in weather.

Bagrote remained the coldest place in the country where mercury dropped degree Celsius below the freezing point. Minimum temperature in Kalam, Kalat and Gupis was recorded -5C, Skardu -4C, Hunza, Malamjabba and Parachinar 3C, Astore, Quetta and Dalbandin 2C, Murree and Drosh -1C. In Lahore, minimum temperature was recorded 11C.

In Lahore, overcast conditions, continuously blowing winds and scattered showers increased chill in weather by decreasing temperature during the day and at nighttime.  People preferred to stay indoors to avoid exposure to harsh weather conditions. Excessive usage of heaters at offices and homes led to low gas pressure. In certain areas, women faced huge difficulties in cooking meals for their families. Wet conditions and strong winds also caused tripping of more than 100 LESCO feeders. More than one dozen feeders could not be restored even until filing of this report. According to the experts, westerly wave is affecting upper parts of the country and may persist till Friday.  Meteorological department has forecast widespread rain-thunderstorm with snowfall over the hills for northeast Punjab.

 (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore divisions), Hazara division, Islamabad and Kashmir and at scattered places in Malakand, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Bahawalpur divisions during the next couple of days.

Dir received 45mm rain, Malamjabba 40mm, Mirkhani 33mm, Pattan 29mm, Islamabad 25mm, Saidu Sharif 22mm, Rawalpindi 19mm, Drosh 18mm, Kakul and Gujrat 16mm each, Risalpur 15mm, Murree and Cherat 13mm each, Balakot, Chakwal, Sialkot and Garidupatta 12mm each, Rawalakot 10mm, Muzaffarabad, Kalam and Chillas 09mm each, Joarabad and Skardu 06mm each, Kotli 05mm. Noorpurthat 03mm, Lahore, Mianwali, Narowal, Quetta, Kalat, Parachinar, Peshawar and Bagrote 02mm each.

Malamjabba, Kalam and Murree 05,  Astore 03, Dir 02 and Bagrote 01.