Rain brings respite from hot weather.

RAWALPINDI -- The heavy rain accompanied by gustywindsthat lashed the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Thursday evening brought much-needed respite from the hot weather.

Earlier in the day, the temperature swelled to 39 degrees Celsius but in the evening black clouds appeared over the horizon and the rain brought down the temperature to 32 degrees.

According to a Met Office spokesman, a westerly wave was present over upper parts of the country. Moist currents from Arabian Sea were penetrating eastern and upper parts of the country.

He said partly cloudy weather with rain-wind/thundershower was expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Islamabad, Potohar region, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Rain-thundershower with gusty winds are expected in upper Sindh and northeast Balochistan on Friday.

He said heavy fall and hailstorm may also occur at a few places during the period while hot and dry weather is likely in other parts of the country.

The Met Office recorded 33mm rain at Shamsabad and 35mm at Chaklala in Rawalpindi, 28mm at Zero Point, 27mm at Saidpur, 25mm at Bokra and 29mm at Golra in Islamabad.

Water level in Leh Nullah increased to seven feet at Kattarian bridge and six feet at Gawalmandi.

Wasa Managing Director Tanveer Ahmed told Dawn that staff had been directed to remain on a standby to deal with any emergency. He said on the directives of Commissioner Noorul Amin Mengal, the city had been divided into four...