Dubai: Motorists have been urged to follow traffic rules and maintain safe distance from other vehicles as dense fog will continue to hamper visibility in coastal cities this weekend, accompanied by a slight but gradual increase in temperature.
On Saturday, fog descended over the coastal cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Forecasters have warned that visibility could drop to less than 500 metres over some areas.
“We urge motorists to drive with caution this weekend as visibility will be as bad as [Thursday’s] and may drop to less than 500 metres. The fog is expected to clear by around 11am,” a forecaster from the National Centre of Meteorology told Gulf News.
Nine people were injured in a 28-vehicle pileup on Emirates Road in Dubai in the Abu Dhabi direction at 7.30am on Thursday due to poor visibility. The incident happened just days after a pileup of 44 cars happened in Abu Dhabi, injuring 22 people.
The country will be partly cloudy during the day and the amount of clouds will increase over the eastern and northern areas of the country on Friday.
Westerly to Northwesterly winds will be moderate, freshening at times, especially over the sea on Friday during daytime, with speeds of 20–28km/h, reaching 38km/h over the sea.
The Arabian Gulf will be slight to moderate and may become rough at times on Friday. The Oman Sea will be slight to moderate.
Temperature rise
On Monday, the country will continue to be humid at night and in the morning, with the probability of fog formation over northern areas. The mercury is expected to rise gradually by 2 degree Celsius to 3C.
The forecaster said overall temperature in the UAE starts to gradually increase by February but with slight fluctuations in between.
The average maximum temperature for the month of February is 24.2C compared to 22.5C during January while the minimum is 13.2C up from 12.9C the month before.
“The major change in temperature usually begins in April here when the [season changes]. But from February to March, the temperature rise will be gradual,” he said.
