LAHORE - Dense fog and biting cold continued to disturb routine life in plains of the country on fourth day on Wednesday with experts predicting the prevailing harsh weather conditions to persist at least for another couple of days.
In plains, the people get only few hours of relief from dense fog, causing considerable decrease in maximum temperature and thus increasing chill in weather during the daytime. The fog started falling in the evening on Wednesday just couple of hours after lifting of the existing mass.
Dense fog disturbed normal routine life as lesser visibility hampered vehicular movement on important intercity and intra city roads including Motorway and National Highway. Dense fog again caused closure of Motorway from Pindi Bhattian to Lahore and from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad at around midnight. The situation was the same at National Highway. Though the highway was not closed for traffic, considerable decrease in visibility caused the vehicles to move at a snail’s pace. The police advised motorists to switch on fog lights and drive on slow speed. The visibility was also low on portions of GT Road. The intense fog also disturbed normal flight operation and schedule of Pakistan Railways.  Lack of sunshine, snowfall over the hills and winds helped maintaining the mercury to a low level, making weather chilly during the day and at nighttime.  Kalat and Parachinar remained coldest places in the country where mercury dropped 06 degree Celsius below freezing point.
Maximum and minimum temperature in the City was recorded 14 C and 08 C respectively. Relative humidity in the evening was recorded 94 per cent. 
Harsh weather conditions forced the people to stay indoors wrapped in woolies and blankets to keep their bodies warm. Excessive usage of heaters in the offices and at home led to low gas pressure in major cities including Lahore. In certain areas, women faced huge difficulties in cooking meals for their families.
According to the experts, a shallow westerly wave is prevailing over northern parts of the country and likely to move east-southeastward during next 24 hours. 
Local meteorological department has forecast mainly cold and dry weather for most parts of the country. However, light rain (with light snowfall over the hills) is expected at isolated places of Malakand, Hazara, Islamabad/Rawalpindi divisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Dense foggy conditions would prevail over most parts of Punjab, Peshawar division, Gilgit- Baltistan and Kashmir. Dense foggy conditions would prevail over most parts of Punjab during night and morning time.