UAE's eastern region hit by summer rainstorm

Residents revel in rare rain and hail

Rain fell on the UAE-Oman border region this weekend. Pawan Singh / The National

A summer rainstorm hit an inland region of the UAE on Saturday.

Hail fell on the rural eastern area where Abu Dhabi and Sharjah emirates meet Oman.

The showers were brief, with isolated flooding reported in the towns of Showka and Filli.

Reports showed the weather front had passed by late afternoon.

The downpour was nowhere near the same scale as the once-in-a-century storm that struck the Emirates in April, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

Temperatures are forecast to hover around the low to mid-forties in the coming week. Air quality will be poor due to dust in the air.

The Emirates has seen a humid start to the summer, compounding high temperatures.

This week, UAE authorities reduced Friday sermons to 10 minutes to relieve worshippers from the heat.