LAHORE, June 14: Widespread rain, which may be heavy to very heavy at some places, is likely to hit different parts of the country and catchments over the next two days, according to a forecast issued by the Met office on Friday evening.

The forecast attributed the expected showers to the pre-monsoon system that has gripped the entire country and is expected to intensify over the next 36 to 48 hours.

The Meteorological department expects normal monsoon rains this year and says that at present the country is receiving pre-monsoon rains. The rainy season will start on July 1.

The pre-monsoon showers are expected to raise river flows and may inundate low-lying areas in cities like Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Lahore.

River Kabul and its tributaries which are already in medium to low flood, are expected to further swell after the rain.

In its latest advisory, the department has predicted widespread thundershowers in upper parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar and Kohat divisions) and scattered rains in southern parts of the province (Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions).

Widespread rains are likely in upper and central parts of Punjab (Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala and Sahiwal divisions) and Islamabad while scattered showers have been forecast for southern Punjab (Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur divisions).

Heavy to very heavy thundershowers are expected at isolated places in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha and Sahiwal divisions.

The possibility of flash flooding over the hills of Koh-i-Suleman range and urban flooding in the above-mentioned cities cannot be ruled out, the advisory warns.

Widespread rain is expected in Kashmir, heavy at places and moderate at others. Scattered rain is likely in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Rain at some places is expected in central and south-eastern parts of Sindh (Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad and Karachi divisions) and isolated places in Larkana division.

Scattered rain of moderate intensity is expected in Kalat, Zhob and Sibi divisions of Balochistan.

On Friday, the sky was covered with clouds in Lahore, where maximum temperature was recorded at 36 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 24 degrees, with 70 per cent humidity in the morning and 49 per cent in the evening.

Dera Ismail Khan received 72mm of showers, Bhakkar 60, Garhi Dupatta 42, Rawalakot 37, Saidu Sharif 31, Bannu 26, Balakot 23, Muzaffarabad 21, Zhob 20, Bahawalnagar 16, Murree 12, Drosh 11, Toba Tek Singh 10, Mirkhani 8, Islamabad airport and Kalam 6 and Lower Dir, Mithi and Bunji 5.