LAHORE, Jan 2: Fog continued to affect the plains of Punjab on Friday, and the Met office said it would be cleared at least from northern cities of the province because of the arrival of a westerly wave in the next 24 hours.

Fog nevertheless might continue to blanket southern Punjab in the next 24 hours, the Met office said. Fog developed in Lahore and elsewhere in the province late on Thursday. It reduced visibility in Lahore to just 30 metres at 8am, disrupting once again the road, rail and air traffic and increasing cold. The fog finally cleared at 1pm, but the mist again covered the sky in the late afternoon.

The Met office said the city could have a shallow fog during the night. It expected scattered thunderstorm and rain and snow over the hills in the NWFP, the Northern Areas, Kashmir and northern Punjab during the next 24 hours because of the arrival of a fresh westerly wave from Afghanistan.

The maximum temperature in Lahore was 17 degrees Celsius and the minimum 3.8 degrees Celsius.