No life-threatening storms likely, says Met Office

Islamabad : The Met Office has rubbished a social media report about imminent deadly rainstorms in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and said the twin cities would receive routine rainfall in the days ahead.

An anonymous weather advisory titled ‘life-threatening storms ahead’ went viral on social media warning, the “storm of the season is likely between 13 September (9 p.m.) and 15 September (6 p.m.). Hurricane forced wind gusts are expected in the twin cities.”

According to it, the storms could produce tornadoes, heavy hailstorm and cloudburst, is likely to cause 100mm rainfall in an hour or two in some areas, and could cause localised flooding and frequent lightning.

When contacted, Met Office spokesman Dr Khalid Mehmood Malik rejected the advisory as rubbish and said no such thunder and rainstorms were expected in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

He said the social media post in question was factually false and so, it seemed to be created to spread panic.

“There’s nothing to fear about. The imminent rainfall will be normal,” he said.

The weatherman said the twin cities would have normal rains over the weekend, while another similar rainy spell would occur next week, which would herald the end of the summer season and the start of the winter weather. He said Islamabad and Rawalpindi would have cold nights before the daytime temperatures would begin falling.