The state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) is characterized by a mountainous terrain susceptible to high climate variability. The topography differs between the southern districts which are partially hilly including Kotli, while Bhimber and Mirpur are plains. The central and northern areas of the state are mainly hilly and mountainous with valleys and stretches of plain. In these areas, the climate is moist with average rainfall exceeding 1400 mm per year. 

The southern districts of AJ&K including Bhimber, Mirpur and Kotli have hot weather in summer and moderate cold weather in winter, classified as a warm to hot sub-tropical continental monsoon type.  AJ&K has been divided into eight agro-climatic zones i.e. (i) Glaciers and cold caps; (ii) Very cold temperate continental winter rains; (iii) Cold dry temperate continental winter rains; (iv) Very cold temperate continental winter rains and monsoon; (v) Cold temperate continental winter rains and monsoon; (vi) Moist warm temperate continental winter rains and monsoon; (vii) Humid warm sub-tropical continental winter rains and monsoon; and (viii) Sub-humid hot sub-tropical continental winter rains and monsoon.

The major rivers flowing through AJ&K including Jhelum, Neelum and Poonch are part of the trans-boundary Indus rivers system distribution between India and Pakistan. The state has 239 glaciers spread over a total area of 92.229 km2, with 76 glacial lakes mostly concentrated in the largest northern district by landmass, Neelum. 

As most of the rural population of AJK depends on agriculture, forestry and livestock for subsistence, 13% of the total state land or 166,432 hectares is under cultivation. 92% of the cultivable area is rain fed, with major crops including maize, wheat and rice. 42.6% of the land area is controlled by the forest department. AJ&K has 11.6% of its area under thick forest cover where varieties of Deodar, Kail, Blue Pine, Silver Fir and Chir Pine grow. 16.9% area consists of thinly wooded forests. 

Current and future climate projections made by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) give evidence of rapid climate change occurring in AJ&K. Temperature and rainfall records over the last fifty years (1960-2007) in the region show rising climate trends in the province with average maximum temperature increasing to 0.82 degrees and precipitation to 75mm. This has resulted in a number of extreme weather events such as flash floods and delays in normal rainfall patterns. Furthermore, the PMD data also shows that the region is experiencing longer hot days and increased heat waves in the summer season and decreased cold waves in the winter. The analyses presented by PMD show that region is getting one extra month of summer every year, similar to the rest of Pakistan since 1980. The impact of temperature and precipitation increase has adversely impacted the glaciers and biodiversity in the region, which can have negative effects on the ecosystem in the province.