Dubai: Global Village, the popular internationally-themed festival, recreation and retail park in Dubai, was shut down on Monday due to bad weather, the park’s management stated.
“Due to current bad weather conditions, and in order to ensure the safety of Global Village’s guests and staff members, Global Village’s Management has taken the decision of not operating today, Monday March 20, 2017,” it said in a media statement.
Strong winds kicked up dust, reducing visibility on Monday while scattered rainfall is expected during the next two days in different parts of the country, forecasters said on Monday.
Global Village will open its doors back on Tuesday March 21, 2017, starting 4pm welcoming its guests with regular operation, according to the management.
Global Village is the region’s first-ever, multicultural Festival Park offering an engaging experience to families through a wide variety of shopping, dining, entertainment and funfair activities in an open-air environment. Global Village showcases the best from different cultures across the world in a vibrant and festive environment through more than 30 pavilions, each representing a different culture, while delighting its guests with an array of global cuisines along with exciting thrill rides and world class entertainment, all within its entry fee of AED 15. The multicultural festival park runs a seasonal operation from November to April every year.
Scattered rain
Forecasters warned motorists on Monday to be aware of poor visibility and the possibility of wet roads, according to the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS).
Residents should also stay away from valleys due to the possibility of rainfall, the Abu Dhabi-based forecasters added.
Swirling dust may reduce visibility to around 1 kilometre. The unstable weather is expected to affect all of the UAE.
Meanwhile, people out on boats should be aware of rough to very rough seas on both the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman.
Temperatures are can also be expected to fall between four to five degrees Celsius, ending a spell of hot, sunny weather in the past several days.
Cloud formations are also expected to increase.
Meanwhile, winds from both the north and south east are expected to reach speeds of 25 to 35 kilometres per hour, and will reach 45 kilometres per hour during the day.
Concerning the wind speed, we’re expecting wind speed to be north easterly to south easterly, 25 to 35 kilometres per hour, reaching 45 during day time, becoming north westerly, from 20 to 35 per hour during night and tomorrow.
“We’re expecting the north westerly winds to affect all of the UAE by nightfall, and we’re expecting a gradual fall of temperatures for the next two days,” an NCMS forecaster told Gulf News.
Sandstorms
The unstable weather was caused by a trough, or extended area of relatively low atmospheric pressure, over the UAE, the forecaster added.
Early afternoon on Monday, temperatures hovered at an average of around 31 degrees.
Temperatures were around 31.4 Celsius in Abu Dhabi city, while over at the Fujairah port, the temperature was 26.6 Celsius.
On social media, people posted pictures and warnings of sandstorms over parts of Dubai and near Abu Dhabi’s airport.
A weather chart by NCMS showed high humidity across all of the UAE, and patches of drizzle near Abu Dhabi city and the northern emirates.
Humidity is expected to peak at 70 to 90 per cent across coastal areas.
The lowest temperature in the UAE on the same day was 14.5 degrees Celsius on the Jebel Jais mountain in Ras Al Khaimah at 12:45 AM.
