Cold returns to KP's Hazara Division amid fresh snowfall, rain; several link roads blocked

MANSEHRA: Several roads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hazara Division were blocked on Thursday due to landslides triggered by a fresh spell of snowfall and rain across the region.

Snowfall began in the early hours in Kaghan valley, Siren valley, Konsh valley, Koh-i-Makra and other high-altitude areas, continuing intermittently throughout the day.

Meanwhile, link roads connecting hundreds of villages with the Karakoram Highway and the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road were blocked due to landslides in the upper parts of the division.

Unexpected cold catches residents off guard

The sudden return of cold weather caught residents by surprise after temperatures had risen in the preceding weeks, signalling an early summer.

"Nobody was expecting two weeks ago that the temperature, which had risen in early summer, would drop below the freezing point in mountainous parts, causing severe cold in urban areas as well," said Sheikh Ghafoor, a local resident.

Speaking to a local media outlet, Ghafoor said that residents had begun wearing summer-appropriate clothing but were now forced to don shawls, jackets, sweaters, and other garments made of sheep wool once again as temperatures plummeted across the region.

The fresh weather system has brought a sharp drop in temperatures across both mountainous and urban areas of Hazara Division, disrupting daily life and travel for communities that rely on the now-blocked link roads for connectivity to major highways.

The landslides caused by the combination of rain and snowfall have severed vital transport links, leaving numerous villages in the upper reaches of the division cut off from main road networks. The blockage of routes connecting to the Karakoram Highway and the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road is particularly significant, as these serve as lifelines for communities in the remote mountainous terrain of the region.

The unexpected weather reversal has underscored the vulnerability of high-altitude communities in Hazara Division to sudden climatic shifts, with residents finding themselves unprepared for the return of winter-like conditions after what had appeared to be the onset of warmer weather.