CLAIM

Temperatures in Naran reached 30°C during May 2026

WHAT HAPPENED

Pakistan is experiencing an intense heatwave this year, with the mercury crossing 50 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country. In its weather outlook for May 26-31, the National Disaster Management Authority warned that rising temperatures, heatwave conditions, flash floods, and landslides could impact several parts of the country, especially the northern and southern regions.

It added that there was also a risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) across Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), in its latest advisory issued on June 1, said the upper parts of the country are expected to experience dust storms and thunderstorms from June 2, which are likely to persist until June 5 due to a westerly wave.

Recently, several local digital media pages on X, Facebook and Instagram have been claiming that temperatures in Naran reached 30°C in the last week of May, raising concerns regarding the impact of climate change across the country.

“Known for its cool climate, snow-fed rivers, and refreshing mountain weather, Naran has long served as a summer escape for travellers seeking relief from the intense heat experienced in many parts of Pakistan. The unusually high temperature has prompted discussions about changing weather patterns and the potential impact of climate change on the country’s northern regions,” reads the caption of an Instagram post by Connected Pakistan.

Others also shared the claim in a similar way, as seen here, here, here, here, here and here.

However, none of these posts specified a time or date when the temperature was recorded.

WHAT WE FOUND

A keyword search conducted to corroborate whether any local or international media outlets had reported on temperatures in Naran reaching a record 30°C did not yield any results.

PMD Spokesperson Anjum Nazir Saigham told iVerify Pakistan the department had an automatic weather station in Naran. “Latest data from there shows that the maximum temperature in Naran was 27.2°C, recorded on May 19, 2026,” he said.

Muhammad Fahim Ahmad, the regional deputy director of the KP Met Office, concurred. “The highest temperature recorded in Naran during May was 27.7°C while the mercury in Balakot reached 32.5°C,” he told Dawn’s KP correspondent Arif Hayat.

Junaid Yamin, who runs private weather channel WeatherWalay, also backed the PMD’s findings in a telephonic conversation with iVerify Pakistan.

That said, even though the mercury in Naran did not reach 30°C, the maximum temperature of 27.7°C was still alarming. “Average temperatures in Naran during May are usually recorded between 12-20°C,” said Fatima Yamin, a climate change and disaster management expert.

She noted that there was a bigger picture behind the rising mercury. Yamin quoted a recent report released by the World Meteorological Organisation, which state that the El Niño effect — a natural climate phenomenon characterised by the warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean — will get intense from June onward.

“And the southern hemisphere feels it more than the northern hemisphere,” the expert explained, adding that El Niño increases the intensity of below-normal rainfall. “It also increases the length and intensity of the heat.”

The same was also highlighted in a Reuters report dated June 2, 2026. “The El Nino weather pattern is forming, and is expected to cause extreme weather around the world this year,” it said, adding that climate change would make its impact especially worse.

On the other hand, Haider Raza of the World Wildlife Fund warned that temperatures are expected to go higher in June and attributed this to climate change. According to him, the contributing factors include vehicular emissions, carbon emissions caused by reinforced cement concrete infrastructure, solid waste dumps and the use of liquified petroleum gas.

“All of these factors, combined, result in higher temperatures and ground-level ozone — a harmful air pollutant that is formed by nitrogen oxides [emitted by vehicles] and volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight,“ he added.

CONCLUSION

While temperatures in Naran did not reach 30°C, the rising mercury in the town poses an alarming situation.

EVIDENCE AND REFERENCES:

June 2, 2026, World Meteorological Organisation report:
https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-prepare-el-nino

June 2, 2026, Reuters report:
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/strong-el-nino-may-be-imminent-climate-change-will-make-its-effects-worse-2026-06-02/