UAE flies 110 cloud-seeding missions in 2026, with rain forecast from Monday

Abu Dhabi: The UAE has carried out 110 cloud-seeding missions since the start of 2026, with the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) saying it continues to advance rain enhancement technology through scientific research while preparing for another spell of unsettled weather early next week.

The NCM, according to Al Khaleej, said that cloud-seeding operations are conducted throughout the year whenever suitable cloud formations develop. 

During winter, weather systems typically generate widespread cloud cover across the country, while in summer, convective clouds usually form over the eastern and southern regions because of daytime heating and mountainous terrain, creating opportunities for rain enhancement flights when conditions allow.

Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique used to enhance rainfall from existing clouds rather than create new ones.

In the UAE, specially equipped aircraft release tiny particles of natural salts into suitable convective clouds, encouraging water droplets to merge into larger drops that are more likely to fall as rain.

The process is carried out only when meteorological conditions are favourable and suitable clouds have already formed.

The centre forecasts convective clouds accompanied by rainfall over eastern and southern parts of the UAE on Monday and Tuesday afternoon as a surface low-pressure system extending from the east combines with an upper-level trough.

More broadly, the weather is expected to remain fair to partly cloudy through Tuesday, with cloud build-up during the afternoon, light to moderate south-easterly winds turning north-westerly at times, gusts reaching 35km/h, and slight seas in both the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.