Riyadh: The Saudi Ministry of Education announced the closure of schools in Riyadh yesterday following heavy rains that hit the capital on Tuesday. The rains continued for several hours.

People remained confined to their homes in the capital Riyadh, the eastern province, Tabuk , Assir and Baha regions.

It was reported that snow fell in the northern region of Tabuk on Tuesday with the highlands of Allouze and Talfaha near Tabuk largely covered with snow.

The Presidency of Meteorology and Environment said the minimum temperature in Tabuk was below 0C.

The heavy rain and fog caused low visibility in different regions resulting in a large number of traffic accidents.

The weather also disrupted electric power supply in some areas. The electricity company said it had switched off the power to avoid fatal accidents.

Major Hassan Al Hassan, director of control and command room at the Riyadh Traffic Department said his department had reported 402 traffic accidents resulting from heavy rains and poor visibility.

However no deaths or injuries were reported.

Al Hassan said his department's operations room had received 1,373 reports seeking traffic assistance and 613 calls for general services. He said traffic patrols spotted flooding in 60 locations, adding that the municipality authorities had been alerted to pump out water.

Traffic in some areas of the capital had come to a standstill, leaving motorists to assume the responsibility for directing traffic flow in the densely populated capital. In the eastern province, Colonel Mohammad Al Gamdi, spokesman of the Frontier Guard Command, said the heavy rains that hit the region since Tuesday morning had led to a reduction of permits granted to fishing boats.

He said usually around 400 permits were issued on a daily basis but due to the rain and fog only 70 were granted on Tuesday.

He pointed out that if the situation became worse, fishing boats would be prevented from working, to save the lives of fishermen. He said his department was on full alert for any emergency.

Na'eem Al Na'eem, director of King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam has underlined that shipping traffic was not halted at the port.