RAWALPINDI: Rain accompanied with gusty winds lashed the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Thursday with the Met Office forecasting the wet spell to continue till May 11.

The rain started at 11am with the gusty winds at a speed of 60 kilometres per hour (30 knots).

The rain continued till the evening with small gaps.

It was a bad day for the residents, especially school and office goers, as they had to bear the brunt of slushy mess on the roads. Due to the bad weather, mostly people remained confined to their houses. Mud and puddles made the city roadstoo slipperyto drive on especially for motorcyclists.

The Met Office recorded 31mm rain at Chaklala, 23mm at Kutchery and 22mm at Shamsabad in Rawalpindi, and 10mm at Islamabad Airport, 19mm at Zero Point, 6mm at Saidpur, 13mm at Golra and 12mm at Bokra in Islamabad. The rain brought down the temperature to 29 degrees Celsius.

However, the Met Official said moist currents were penetrating upper and central parts of the country while a westerly wave was affecting most parts of the country.

`Partly cloudy weather in most parts of the country with rain-wind/thunderstorm is expected at isolated places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Punjab, northeastern/central Balochistan, upper/southeastern Sindh, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Heavy falls/hailstorms may occur at few places during the period,` it said.

On the other hand, the Met Office warned that wind/dust, thunderstorm/hailstorm and lightning may damage loose structures like (electric poles, trees, vehicles and solar panels etc) till May 12. It advised farmers to remain cautious during the forecastperiod and tourists toplan their activities according to weather updates.

It asked people to stay at safe places duringthe dust storm/wind-thunderstorm while civic authorities were particularly advised to remain alert duringtheforecast period.

Meanwhile, Wasa Managing Director Saleem Ashraf inspected work to drain out rainwater from roads and streets.

He said that allofficials were called to deal with any emergency and drain outwater accumulated ontheroads adjacent to Leh Nullah. He said all main roads were cleared within an hour afterrain.

He said duringthe rain an emergency was enforced in which leaves of all field staff were cancelled. Flood response units will be set up at Liaquat Bagh, Moti Mahal, Commercial Market, Bagh Sardaran and Khayaban-iSir Syed with the deployment of heavy machinery and staff.

Aamir Yasin