ISLAMABAD: Strong winds coming from the northwest triggered monsoon rains in the twin cities bringing relief from the hot and humid atmosphere prevailing in the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for the past few days.  

The Met Office has said that monsoon currents are penetrating in most parts of the country that has caused hot and humid climate in the whole region.

“However shallow westerly wave is affecting upper parts of the country and likely to persist for the next two days,” the Met Office official said, adding that “rains occurred under the influence of these cool western winds”.

The main thrust of the rains was at the hilly belt starting from Muzaffarabad and going up to Balakot and Hazara division, including hills of Galiat and Islamabad.

Rains started in the hilly areas of Murree and Hazara on Thursday night and two strong spells were recorded in the whole area on Friday morning and another in the evening. The hills of federal capital received higher volumes of downpour, with Saidpur area receiving around 91mm and Golra 43mm rainfall.

Rain in mainland Islamabad was limited to around 15 minutes only, with just 14mm showers recorded at Zero Point, reducing to only 4mm in Shamsabad area of Rawalpindi. Beyond that the roads remained dry. — A Reporter