Dense fog continues to blanket twin cities.

Byline: Aamir Yasin

RAWALPINDI -- A cold wave coupled with dense fog gripped Rawalpindi and Islamabad and disrupted routine life on Saturday. The foggy conditions will continue today (Sunday), according to the Met Office.

All domestic and international flights and18 train services were affected while traffic on the motorway remained thin. Though the fog lost its intensity due to sunshine in the afternoon, the biting cold forced people to stay indoors.

'The twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad witnessed dense fog and it will continue for the next 48 hours in the morning and night,' said Rashid Bilal, a senior official at Pakistan Meteorological Department.

'The general visibility was 100 metres in the twin cities from 7pm to 9pm on Friday and remained below 50 meters from 9pm on Friday to 11am on Saturday. The fog started creeping into the twin cities late Saturday night and will continue on Sunday,' he said.

Explaining the characteristics of thefog in Lahore and Islamabad, he said moisture in the air travels downward and vanishes due to strong winds and rain in the area.

Met Office predicts cold wave and foggy condition today

'Usually, fog engulfs plain areas. In Punjab, water evaporates from canals and rivers and then mixes with the air in plain areas in the form of fog,' he said.

However, in the Potohar region, moisture travels with the air from the plain areas in the dry season. He said fog is harmless for human health compared to smog, whichis a mixture of fog and smoke in the air and creates problems for allergy patients.

The minimum temperature recorded in Islamabad and Rawalpindi was 2AdegC.

'Temperature did not drop to zero due to the presence of moisture in the air. The wind is biting cold because it is moisture-laden and coming from the plain areas of Punjab,' the official said.

There was chaos at the airport, railway station and on the roads in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Traffic in the twin cities moved at a snail's pace as visibility did not improve...