LAHORE, July 14: The new spell of the monsoon rains began on Thursday and the Met Office forecast isolated heavy falls in several cities in Punjab, including Lahore, and upper parts of the country in the next 48 hours.

Heavy rains and strong winds may generate urban and flash flooding in the local rivers and streams, said the Met Department in its warning.

The Flood Forecasting Division said the river Chenab at Marala was likely to attain low flood level during the next 24 hours because of the rain.

The Met Department said the rain would be generated by a mixture of the trough of a strong westerly wave moving over northeast Afghanistan and adjoining Pakistan, and the monsoon current from the Arabian Sea that was reaching Punjab and Kashmir up to 4,000 feet.

It forecast heavy to very heavy falls over Lahore, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi divisions, parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Peshawar, Hazara, Kohat, and Bannu divisions) and Kashmir (upper catchments of the Chenab and Jhelum) during the next 48 to 72 hours. Scattered thunderstorm/rain might occur over Sargodha, Faisalabad and Sahiwal divisions.

Meanwhile, many cities received first rain of the new monsoon spell. Mandi Bahauddin received 75mm of rain, Rawlakot (55mm), Sialkot City (53mm), Mangla (39mm), Kotli (38mm), Murree (34mm), Jhelum and Muzaffarabad (33mm each), Islamabad Zero Point (29mm), Malamjabba (21mm), Kakul (14mm), Risalpur (9mm), Saidu Sharif (8mm), Okara and Islamabad Airport (6mm), Faisalabad and Joharabad (4mm each), and Dir (2mm).

It remained cloudy to partly cloudy in Lahore and scattered drizzle kept weather somewhat pleasant. The maximum temperature was 32 degrees Celsius and the minimum 27 degrees Celsius, with 85 per cent humidity in the morning and 72 per cent in the evening.