The severity of the smog and fog has reduced up to some extent after an intermittent drizzle, which has increased coldness too.
The schools will remain closed in the city, today. A westerly wave is affecting western and upper parts of the country and likely to persist in northern parts till Saturday morning.
Mainly cloudy weather is expected in most parts of the country. However, widespread rain/wind-thunderstorms (with snowfall over mountains) is expected in districts of upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan, Kashmir and Islamabad, at scattered places in districts of north Punjab, lower Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while at isolated places in districts of central/south Punjab, northeastern and southern Balochistan. Heavy fall is also expected at few places in upper areas of the country.
A thick blanket of smog covered large swathes of Punjab earlier, including Lahore and forced diversion of three flights to Islamabad. Flight number QR 628 from Doha to Lahore was diverted to Islamabad airport due to poor visibility caused by intense smog. The flights from Damam and Urumqi were also diverted towards Islamabad from Lahore for the same reason.