Dubai: Thick fog caused visibility to drop to less than 50 metres in most parts of the UAE on Thursday morning, delaying more than a hundred flights and causing accidents.
Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and some western areas experienced extremely poor visibility on Thursday morning, forecasters from the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) said.
The blanket of fog resulted in 144 accidents across Dubai between 6am and 10am due to fog, according to the Dubai Police’s command and control. It also received 1,257 calls in the same period.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammad Juma Aman, director of Dubai Police’s Command and Control Room (operations room), urged motorists to take extra care when driving in low-visibility conditions, as traffic accidents tend to increase in such conditions.
He added that motorists should ensure that their vehicles’ windshields, windows and headlights are clean, and that their indicators are working before driving.
He said drivers should leave enough distance between their vehicle and the one in front, and reduce their speed in order to stay within the area visible to them. He also advised drivers to stick to their lane, and only switch lanes when necessary.
Forecasters expect better conditions on Friday and Saturday although mist and fog are still expected in some areas.
“We expect that the fog will form over some inland areas. The chance of fog is there because of the northwesterly flow that is bringing a lot of humidity from the sea and the light wind during early morning,” a forecaster told Gulf News.
“Along coastal areas such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, it will be clear, or mist may form. But when you go further inland, visibility will reduce to less than 2,000m and in some areas such as Al Ghur, near Al Ain, it’s expected to drop to less than 1,000m,” he added.
Visibility may still drop during the day on Friday or Saturday in some areas as fresh winds coming from the sea will blow inland to kick up dust or sand in exposed areas.
But good news to those who love to snuggle in the cold as forecasters are expecting a significant drop in temperature on Friday night by around 3 degree Celsius to 5C especially in coastal areas of Abu Dhabi and to the western parts of the country.
The minimum temperature expected in western areas, especially on Friday night, is 12C to 14C.
The Arabian Gulf and Oman Sea will be rough to very rough with wave heights reaching 8ft to 12ft, and 6ft to 10ft offshore.
