According to the forecast made by the Meteorological Department on Saturday, a severe cold wave has gripped the mountainous regions of the country and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, with temperatures dropping below freezing point in several places.

The weather is expected to remain cold, dry, and partly cloudy in most parts of the country.

The forecast indicates the possibility of light rain and snowfall in some places in Gilgit-Baltistan, Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and North Balochistan.

This morning, the minimum temperatures recorded in major cities were thirteen degrees Celsius in Karachi and ten in Lahore. The federal capital Islamabad recorded six, while both Peshawar and Muzaffarabad recorded five degrees. In Quetta, the intensity of cold was three degrees, in Gilgit two, and the temperature in Murree was at the freezing point, i.e., zero degrees.

In Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, authorities have forecast partly cloudy weather with light snowfall in Leh, Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, and Baramulla. In Jammu and Srinagar, the weather is expected to remain partly cloudy with the possibility of light rain and snowfall in the evening and night.

The severity of the cold in the occupied territory can be gauged from the morning temperatures, where Leh recorded minus seven degrees Celsius. Srinagar and Pulwama were at minus two, while Anantnag and Shopian were at minus one degree. Baramulla was at zero degrees Celsius, and the weather in Jammu was relatively better at eight degrees.