Fog obscured the roads in Lahore and various other cities of the country, due to which the motorways were closed for traffic at several places.
Due to reduced visibility, vehicles are prohibited from entering the M2 Motorway from Lahore to Kot Momin, M3 from Faizpur to Darkhana, while M4 from Pindi Bhattian to Multan has been closed for traffic.
Similarly, vehicles are not allowed to enter M5 from Multan to Rohri and M11 from Lahore to Sambrial. There are also fog camps on the national highway in Lahore, Manga Mandi, Pattoki, Okara, Sahiwal, Ahmedpur Sharqia.
In addition, traffic flow is also affected due to heavy fog in Mian Channu, Khanewal, Multan, Basti Maluk, Lodhran, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Sadiqabad.
A spokesperson for the Motorway Police requested citizens to avoid unnecessary travel, saying that travel during the day is safer in view of the bad weather conditions.
Along with severe cold wave across the country including Lahore, icy winds further increased the intensity of the weather on Sunday.
The minimum temperature was recorded in Islamabad as zero, 1 in Peshawar and Murree, three in Lahore, and 9 degrees Celsius in Karachi. Most districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan began to experience bitter cold, where the mercury dropped several degrees below freezing point.
The mercury in Leh was minus 14, minus 13 in Skardu, minus 10 in Astore, Gopis, minus 8 in Hunza, Gilgit, while minus 6 in Kalat, Bagrot and minus 5 degrees were recorded in Dir. PDMA Punjab has issued a letter stating that the severity of the cold weather across Punjab is likely to increase further by January 16.
Strict implementation of winter vacations had been ordered in educational institutions of the provincial capital. CEO Education Authority Lahore has issued a clear notification regarding holidays, according to which the opening of any government or private school during the holidays is prohibited.
The notification said that strict action will be taken against the opening of schools during the winter holidays.
It further said that legal and disciplinary action will be taken against the relevant school administration for violation, and assistant and deputy education officers have been instructed to monitor daily.
According to the issued notification, it has been decided to strictly monitor schools across Lahore, and instructions have been given to ensure immediate implementation of the notification.