UAE winter weather arrives early as morning temperature plummets to 9°C

Winter season officially arrives on December 23 and is generally accompanied by more fog

Friends enjoying UAE National Day at Kite Beach, Dubai. Ruel Pableo/The National

Winter, which officially begins in the UAE on December 23, has arrived a little earlier this year.

The temperature in one area of the Emirates plunged to just 9°C on Monday morning.

The chilly low was recorded by the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) in Raknah near Al Ain at 6.45am on Monday.

Raknah is in a wadi, or valley, which affects the temperature, often making it cooler there than in the mountains.

“The cold air comes down and stops there, cooling gradually from night to early morning,” a forecaster at NCM told The National.

Temperatures have been falling gradually for weeks, to between the high 20s and low 30s during the day.

On Monday, a pleasant 27°C temperature was recorded in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The rest of the week will be similar, with mostly sunny skies and a chance of light rain over some northern and eastern areas on Tuesday.

Humidity will rise overnight on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night this week, raising the risk of fog and mist over some parts.

Temperatures are predicted to bump along at around the same level for the coming weeks.

According to a long-range forecast on Accuweather, the temperature in Abu Dhabi will fall to the mid-20s later in December, during the Christmas weekend. Temperatures will be similar in Dubai for the rest of the month, with mostly sunny skies.

But, as this week’s weather shows, the colder months coincide with fog season, which begins around mid-December and runs until the end of March, aided by clear skies and calm conditions.

The UAE has already seen regular fog in recent days and weeks, and more is expected over the coming months. January and February can be particularly foggy.

The Emirates has averaged 132 days of fog formation a year since records began in 2006, with the longest stretch recorded in 2010, when there were 17 days of fog and five days of mist in January.