Schools, offices shut as heavy rain returns to desert UAE
The Peninsula
Dubai: Schools and many offices were closed across the United Arab Emirates on Thursday as heavy rains returned to the desert country just two weeks a...
Dubai: Schools and many offices were closed across the United Arab Emirates on Thursday as heavy rains returned to the desert country just two weeks after record downpours that experts linked to climate change.
A lightning storm with high winds swept across the oil-rich monarchy overnight, with more than 50 millimetres (two inches) of rain falling before 8am in some areas, the National Center of Meteorology said.
Flooding was seen in some parts of financial hub Dubai, and the city's airport, the world's busiest by international passenger traffic, cancelled 13 flights and diverted five, a spokesperson said.
State-owned, Dubai-based Emirates and sister airline flydubai both warned passengers of delays, as schools switched to remote learning and public-sector offices closed.
But the rains were not on the scale of April 16, when a record 259.5 mm of rain left four people dead, blocked major roads for days and forced the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights.
