In much of Pakistan, the climate is tropical or subtropical, semi-arid or desert, but in the north there are also: an area near the mountains which is quite rainy, a cold mountainous area, and a frigid area on the peaks of the Himalayas.
In the cold half of the year, from late autumn to early spring, the north is reached by weather fronts of Mediterranean origin, which cause rainfall in the lowlands and snowfall in the mountains; in spring (ie March and April), the clash between air masses can cause thunderstorms and strong winds; in summer, from July to mid September, the country is reached by an offshoot of the Indian monsoon, but in most of the country it is not able to bring heavy rains, while in the western part the monsoon doesn't arrive at all. However, the warmest months are those that precede the monsoon's arrival, especially June, which is very hot in plains and hills, up to quite high altitudes.
The monsoon has an irregular pattern: during some years it may have an unusual force, generating floods, while in other years it doesn't even arrive. Rivers may overflow even at a distance from the area where the heaviest rainfall occurred, which typically happen in the north. So the great valley of the Indus and its tributaries, may also be affected by widespread flooding in the southern area, where normally it rains less.
The cycle called ENSO can affect the monsoon's performance: in the years of La Niña, rainfall is heavier than normal, while El Niño brings drought.
In the mountainous areas of the north and west, the climate is continental, with wide temperature range between winter and summer, and often even between night and day. The temperature naturally decreases with altitude. The northern area (zone 1 on the map) as well as being the coldest at equal altitude, is more vulnerable to cold fronts brought by the westerly winds of the middle latitudes, from December to May. But not all areas receive a lot of precipitation: it depends on slope exposure. The southern side (the mountains north of Peshawar and Islamabad) is much more rainy than the northern one.
Kashmir
In Kashmir, in the northernmost valleys of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the disputed region of Gilgit-Baltistan, the yearly rainfall is typical of the desert, below 250 millimetres (10 inches). Anyway, at higher altitudes there can be snowfalls quite frequently in winter, and above 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) there are vast glaciers, but the fact that the trekking season runs from April to October shows how this area is sheltered from the monsoon rains, although we cannot exclude some showers or thunderstorms, and maybe some snowfalls on the higher peaks.
In Pakistan, there are two mountain ranges, the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush, which host some of the highest peaks on the planet, starting with K2, the second highest mountain in the world with its 8,611 metres (28,251 ft). The highest peak of the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir, 7,708 metres (25,289 ft) high.
Skardu
Skardu, located at 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) above sea level, is the starting point for climbing K2 and other peaks above 8,000 metres (26,200 ft); the climate here is arid continental, with an average of -2.5 °C (27.5 °F) in January, and 24 °C (75 °F) in July, when the average maximum reaches 32 °C (90 °F).
Here are the average temperatures of Skardu.