Biting cold in country’s northern areas as temperature at Taobat drops to -26

Large parts of the country are in the grip of bitterly cold weather these days as the nighttime temperature in Taobat, in Sharda Tehsil in Neelam Valley, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), plummeted to -26 degrees Celsius on Tuesday following heavy snowfall in the area, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.  

Extreme cold also persists in other parts of the Neelam Valley such as Urrang Kel, Kel, Grace and Jagran and in Lipa Valley, Daokhan, Raishian and Haveli as well as in other areas of the AJK where the minimum temperature is well below the freezing point. 

On the other hand, road links between different cities and towns lie severed due to heavy snowfall.

On Tuesday, the minimum temperature in the AJK capital Muzafarabad was recorded at -1, while the city also remained engulfed by dense fog.  

Temperature drops to -17 at Naran

Bitterly cold weather and snowfall have also affected the routine life in Mansehra and the surrounding areas as the minimum temperature at Naran nosedived to -17 degrees Celsius.

It was -15 degrees Celsius at Kaghan and -8 degrees Celsius at Shogran.  

These are not only remote mountainous areas where temperatures are below zero, but also in the cities.   

Different roads in Kaghan Valley remained closed due to snowfall.

However, Shogran Road was opened for traffic, giving motorists access to Kaghan Valley.  

The situation was not much different in Galyat and Thandiani as well where up to two to three feet of snow had been recorded. 

Motorways closed as fog again engulfs Punjab plains 

Meanwhile, Lahore and other plains of Punjab remain blanketed by dense fog, retarding the pace of traffic and resulting in the closure of motorways for all kinds of traffic. 

M-2, a section of the motorway connecting Lahore to Islamabad, was closed from Lahore to Kot Momin. 

Similarly, M-3 was closed from Lahore to Kot Abdul Hakim; M-4, from Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad, and M-11, from Lahore to Sialkot. 

Dense fog was also reported from Pattoki, Okara, Sahiwal and other areas of the province. 

Reporters: Safeer Raza, Syed Noman Shah, Umair Afzal, Israr Khan