ISLAMABAD: The Met Office and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) have warned that heavy rainfall is expected and may, in northern parts of the country, trigger landslides or flash floods.

The NDMA advised that the concerned authorities should undertake the measures needed to prevent the loss of lives and damage to property in the coming days.

The Met Office, meanwhile, has said that the Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore and Hazara divisions, as well as Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), could see a heavy downpour until Wednesday night.

`Due to the intermittent rain, major roads in the Hazara division and Kashmir could face landslides, and there is a serious risk of flooding due to melting glaciers in Chitral and GB,` a Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) spokesperson said.

The situation could remain serious until Thursday in the upper catchments of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab rivers, while moderate to heavy rainfall isexpected in the catchments of rivers Ravi and Sutlej.

The Met Office has said that a cloudburstoverareasfeedingthe Chenab could result in high to very-high riverine flooding in the Chenab and Jhelum rivers.

Under these conditions local nullahs such as the Palku, Deg, Aik, Basantar, Bein, Hassri, Jhajri, Bhimber and Bhander, may also swell beyond their respective capacities.

Moist currents from the Arabian Sea are penetrating the northern and eastern parts ofthe country, and upon contact with cool winds coming from the north, have brought precipitation.

Rainfall began on Monday afternoon in parts of Sindh and gradually moved on to Central Punjab.

By midnight between Monday and Tuesday, the twin cities saw a downpour.

Significant rainfall was received in Mirpurkhas and its adjoining areas, while showers in Mithi were 33 millimetres (mm).

Met Office data recorder on Tuesday stated that Lahore received an average of 147mm of rainfall on Monday and Tuesday, Islamabad received 34mm, Jhang 23mm and Balakot 21mm.