Early morning fog cuts visibility and temperature

Dubai: A thick layer of fog blanketed Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah early on Friday morning, reducing visibility to less than 50 metres in some areas, the weather bureau said.

No accidents were reported but motorists could still be seen whizzing around in the fog early in the day. At Dubai Airport visibility was reduced to 300 metres but it did not affect flight operations.

Foggy conditions in Sharjah started at 1 am and lasted till 9am. In Dubai, it started off as haze and mist at 4am, later developing into fog. It finally lifted at 10am.

Fog is again expected in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain today, and there will be reduced visibility in Dubai and Sharjah due to haziness.

Temperatures in Dubai dropped to 20.5C in Dubai. In Sharjah it dropped to 18C at midnight Friday.

Fog occurs because the warm, moist winds from the Gulf come inland and remain there because there is no dry breeze from the mountains to push it back out to sea. The moisture sits there in the atmosphere and is turned to fog because of colder temperatures in the night.