LAHORE: Fog and continental cold wind dropped minimum temperatures in the plains of Punjab to their lowest of the current month, making Wednesday night the coldest so far and badly affecting rail and road traffic in the country.

Railways authorities reported that all major trains were running late by three to four hours because they were being moved at a slow pace to avoid accidents on the fog-bound tracks on Lahore-Rawalpindi and Lahore-Karachi routes.

The major among them were Karakoram Express (Lahore to Karachi), Greenline Express (Rawalpindi to Karachi), Khyber Mail (Peshawar to Karachi), Musa Pak (Multan to Lahore), Allama Iqbal Express (Sialkot to Karachi) and Karachi Express (Lahore to Karachi).

A large number of stranded passengers were reported at different railway stations en route these trains, and the railways authorities said conditions would improve only after the clearance of fog.

The motorway police reported closure of the motorway sections from Khanewal to Multan, Lahore to Faisalabad and Gojra, Lahore to Kot Momin, Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad and Gojra on Wednesday night due to poor visibility caused by a thick blanket of fog.

It also reported that the National Highway from Lahore to Phoolnagar, Pattoki, Okara, Sahiwal, Chichawatni and Mian Channu remained fog-bound. The fog also covered Lahore, Khanewal, Multan, Lodhran and Bahawalpur regions, reducing visibility and affecting movement of traffic .

Vehicles moved in lines and at a slow place as were guided by the motorway and highway police for safety. Motorway police spokesman Imran Shah advised people to avoid travelling during night and morning hours, install fog lights on their vehicles and avoid speeding for their safety.

Airport authorities said there were no delays in flights because of favourable aviation conditions despite shallow to dense fog in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Sialkot and Peshawar during morning hours.

Met officials at the Lahore airport, who monitor weather for aviation, say the flights operation is totally disrupted when visibility is reduced to 300 metres or below. PIA spokesman Athar Awan said fog was not so thick to warrant closure of airports.

The Met department said fog reduced visibility to 10 metres in Faisalabad, 20m in Jhang and Kot Addu, 30m in Toba Tek Singh, 50m in Noorpur Thal, 150m in Narowal, 200m in Sialkot, 100m in Layyah, Bhakkar and Sargodha, 300m in Jhelum, Khanpur and Okara, 500m in Joharabad, 600m in Kasur, Mangla and Multan and 800m in Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin and Sahiwal.

Dense to shallow foggy conditions are likely to continue in the plains of Punjab, upper Sindh and Peshawar division during morning hours on Friday. Very cold, dry weather with frost in the morning is expected in upper parts of the country over the next 24 hours, says the Met department.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2018