LAHORE - Incessant fog and the resultant absence of sunshine coupled with continuously blowing winds caused further dip in the mercury level across the country including the City on Monday, making people shiver in freezing cold with enhanced winter woes.
The City is witnessing sunless days with collective relief of less than half an hour from incessant fog for the last over one week, continuously increasing winter woes with gradual decrease in temperature during the day and at nighttime. Dry cold is causing outbreak of winter related diseases, adding to the miseries of hapless Lahorites.  The temperature dropped to 1 degree Celsius in Lahore, making Monday the coldest day of current winter.
Besides severe cold, incessant fog deprived the Lahorites from even a glimpse of sun on yet another day on Monday.
Incessant fog, snowfall over the hills and winds caused considerable decrease in the temperature, increasing chill in weather during the day and at nighttime. Low visibility and freezing cold forced the Lahorites to stay indoors wrapped in woolies and blankets. Considerable increase in the usage of heaters in the offices and at home led to low gas pressure in various parts of the City. In certain areas, women faced huge difficulties in cooking meals. Fog started falling in the evening before the lifting of existing mass and become so dense at midnight that the visibility reduced to zero in open areas. Dense fog brought the life to a standstill as low visibility disrupted schedule of flights and trains besides hampering vehicular movement on inter and intra city routes including Motorway and National Highway.
Low visibility hampered vehicular movement on major intercity roads, especially from midnight to 12 at noon. Dense fog forced closures of Motorway from Lahore to Inslamabad and from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad at midnight, causing difficulties for the motorists who left with no other option except to use alternative routes including National Highway. Dense fog also disturbed vehicular movement on almost entire National Highway.
According to the experts, continental air is prevailing over most parts of the country. a fresh trough of westerly wave is lying over northwestern parts of Iran.
On Monday, Skardu remained the coldest place in the country where mercury dropped 14.6 C below the freezing point. Maximum and minimum temperature in the City was recorded 11 C and 1 C respectively. Relative humidity in morning was recorded 91 per cent which decreased to 69 per cent in the evening.
Local meteorological department has forecast mainly cold and dry weather for most parts of the country with fog in the morning and at night for the plains including the City during the next couple of days. However isolated rain with snowfall over the hills is likely in Quetta and Zhob divisions.