LAHORE - Country remained in the grip of cold wave on Monday with frequent outages and low gas pressure adding to the woes of cold stricken people.
In plains, shallow/moderate fog and resultant low visibility disturbed normal vehicular movement on intercity and intra city routes late at night and early morning. 
Weather remained cold and dry in most parts of the country. However, rain occurred at isolated places in Makran and Quetta divisions.
Biting cold forced the people to stay indoors to avoid exposure to harsh weather conditions, decreasing traffic on otherwise busy arteries. Considerable increase in the usage of heaters at offices and homes led to low gas pressure, causing difficulties for women in cooking meals.
Besides severe cold, morning mist and shallow/moderate fog disrupted normal routine life in plains by hampering vehicular movement on inter and intra city routes.
Skardu and Astore remained coldest places in the country where mercury dropped 11 degree Celsius below the freezing point. Mercury dropped to -08 C in Parachinar, -07 C in Gupis and Hunza, -05 C in Kalam, -04 C in Kalat and Gilgit, -03 C in Rawalakot, -02 C in Drosh, -01 C in Murree and Quetta. Maximum and minimum temperature in Lahore was recorded 20 C and 04 C respectively. Relative humidity in the evening was recorded 58 per cent.
According to the experts, shallow westerly wave is affecting Balochistan and expected to extend to upper parts of the country from Tuesday (afternoon/evening) that may persist for next 36 to 48 hours.
Local meteorological department has forecast isolated light rain (light snowfall over the hills) for Lahore, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Malakand, Hazara divisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday (evening/night) and Wednesday. Mainly cold and dry weather is expected elsewhere in the country.