Met warns of rain, thunderstorms and poor visibility

Dubai: The Met Office issued a warning to prepare for rain, thunderstorms and squally winds of about 75 km/h which will reduce visibility on the roads considerably on Saturday.

The skies were overcast on Friday afternoon and many weekend celebrations in the open were moved indoors. Visibility was 7 to 8 kilometres late yesterday afternoon, but will drop to less than a kilometre when the rains hit, said the duty forecaster.

A marine warning was issued on Thursday night, a forecaster said, as the winds could suddenly pick up speed over the sea.

A light drizzle fell over some areas of the country yesterday morning and the capital was hit by winds of up to 56 km/h speed. Delma received heavy rain.

The bad weather across the UAE is caused by a low pressure system crossing over the country. "The main flow is coming from the west and there is a thunderstorm right now (Friday afternoon) over Doha, Qatar," said Giorgio Allessio, duty forecaster.

"There could be residual rain Sunday also across the UAE, but the weather will improve after that," said the forecaster. Later this week onwards the weather conditions will stabilise and the temperatures will return to the normal 30 degrees Celsius.

The unsettled weather is normal for this time of the year as the cooler air coming in from the Eastern Mediterranean mixes with the warmer upper currents here. "This is the last of such activity before summer," said the forecaster.

The UAE experienced heavy rain and hailstorms in the recent past and the freaky weather claimed a couple of lives with some drowning in the rough seas and others in flash floods in Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. A few lives were also lost in traffic accidents in Al Ain and in a building collapse in Dubai.