Heavy rain and hail hits parts of Sharjah

Weather centre footage shows pools of water forming on roads

Heavy rain makes for challenging driving conditions in Sharjah. Photo: NCM

Latest: High winds cause sandstorm to descend on Abu Dhabi

Parts of Sharjah were hit by heavy rain and hail on Sunday, with more wet weather expected across the country next week.

Footage released by the National Centre of Meteorology showed pools of water forming on roads amid gloomy skies.

The weather centre had issued an alert earlier in the day warning of possible rainfall in some eastern areas between 2pm and 7pm.

The NCM released videos of rainfall on Twitter, accompanied by a cloud-seeding hashtag.

The UAE regularly conducts cloud-seeding missions to induce rainfall in an effort to boost the country's water security and counter its dry climate.

Temperatures have been steadily rising across the country in recent weeks as summer approaches.

But there is the prospect of further rainfall in the days ahead.

The NCM's five-day bulletin states there is a chance of more rain from Monday to Thursday, in eastern, western and coastal areas.

The UAE experienced a dry 2021, even by its own standards, but had a soggy start to 2022.

About a year’s worth of rain — 99.2 millimetres — fell in Saih Al Salam in Dubai, which includes Al Qudra Lakes, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa, in the first eight and a half hours of the year.

Ringing in 2022 with rain in UAE - in pictures