DESPITE WEATHER, DUBAI IN THE SADDLE
Keep those umbrellas out, more rains, dust forecast
dubai — Weather forecasters have urged the entire country to brace itself for more wet weather, thunder and lightning over the next couple of days, as Mother Nature’s wintry wrath isn’t quite done with us yet.
With rain, wind and heavy clouds witnessed across most parts of the UAE on Friday, a forecaster from the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) has warned that the unstable conditions will continue for the next few days.
“As of now, till Monday or Tuesday, the cloud formation will continue to increase. The phenomenon is the same across the UAE and the Gulf region. No place is to be singled out, but rainfall of different intensities will be felt. The intensity will be high during night time especially,” he said.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, the forecaster added that winds will continue to get stronger in the coming days, with the Arabian Gulf and Oman Sea expected to remain rough.
Dust storms are expected over some parts of the country too, and he urged motorists to be careful while travelling on the roads. Looking at the mercury, the UAE will experience temperatures between 19 and 25 degrees Celsius, he said.
For residents across the country like Benny Thomas, Friday’s wet weather was welcome on his day off, but he said it will be a different story when the work week begins. “What worries me is the forecast for the next few days. Important meetings may have to be rescheduled and I have field visits, too.”
Tragically, three Emirati youths from the same family were killed in a horrific road accident which occurred in Al Harai area of Khor Fakkan. According to an official from Sharjah Police, the driver of the car was speeding and lost control of the vehicle due to the slippery roads. All three on board — including two brothers and a cousin — were killed instantly when the vehicle hit a lamppost.
On Friday morning, an Etihad Airways spokesperson sent a statement to Khaleej Times, saying: “Abu Dhabi is currently experiencing unstable weather with multiple thunderstorm cells in the terminal area. As a result, 10 flights had diverted to airports within the UAE and the GCC this morning. We will continue to closely monitor the weather situation in the UAE throughout the rest of the day. Any impacted guests are being informed of itinerary changes and assisted where possible to enable them to continue their journeys.
“Today (Friday) is a peak travel morning with a school holiday period, so we will be providing additional assistance at the airport to help our passengers,” the airline spokesperson added.
Etihad Airways also apologised for any inconvenience to its passengers and advised them to contact its Contact Centre on +971 (0) 2599 0000 or to visit www. etihad.com for updates.
Most of the flights from and to the Abu Dhabi airport got delayed. While a flight to Islamabad was delayed by more than nine hours, those to Mumbai and Sydney were late by three hours. Flights to Entebbe in Uganda, Lucknow, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Paris, Beirut, Male, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta among others got late.
Also, arriving ones got delayed by a few hours with one flight from Islamabad landing after 10 hours. Other late arrivals included those from Bahrain, Kuwait, Cairo, Khartoum, Tehran, Riyadh, Beijing, Peshawar, Dusseldorf, London, Manchester, Paris, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Jaipur and others. All flights from Kerala — Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode — arrived late.
Meanwhile, an Emirates spokesperson reported no flight diversion in Dubai and a Dubai Airports (DXB) spokesperson confirmed: “There was no cancellation or diversions out of DXB this morning on account of weather.”