The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued an advisory, which urged the public to stay informed about weather updates before travelling amidst a countrywide heatwave from April 22-27. Climate change is a pressing reality for Pakistan, directly impacting millions of lives. Heatwaves, intensified by climate change, are becoming more frequent, prolonged and severe, disproportionately affecting communities with limited resources to adapt. 

According to the advisory, “The weather is likely to remain dry and hot in most parts of the country.”  In Sindh and Balochistan, the weather will remain dry with temperatures expected to be above normal during the week, the advisory read. It further said: “The weather was likely to remain hot in most areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” adding that rain was expected in various areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and a few districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 

The advisory noted that “partly cloudy weather with a chance of rain was expected in Abbottabad, Chitral, Dir, Haripur, Kohat, Kohistan, Mohmand, Nowshera, Peshawar, Swat and Waziristan”. The NDMA said it was continuing to monitor the situation through the National Emergencies Operation Centre (NEOC). 

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had predicted a heatwave earlier this month with higher than normal temperatures from April 14 to 18. Pakistan was ranked as the most vulnerable country to climate change in 2022, followed by Belize and Italy, according to data in the Climate Risk Index (CRI) for 2025 report released by European think-tank Germanwatch last month.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)