Forecasters warn of more wet weather

Many parts of the UAE were drenched by rain today and forecasters warn of more wet weather in the coming days.

Rain clouds over Abu Dhabi on Dec 3 2008.

Many parts of the UAE were drenched by rain today and forecasters have warned of more wet weather in the coming days. The skies opened across the country and temperatures fell a long way below the seasonal norms. The conditions came as a disappointment to the many people hoping for good weather during the combined National Day and Eid al Adha holiday period. Clive Stevens, a duty forecaster at Dubai International Airport, said just 0.6mm of rain was recorded at the airport's monitoring station, but much larger amounts fell elsewhere.

"It's been quite obvious there's been some heavy showers in certain parts of the country," he said. He said the weather had been "stuck in a rut for the past week", with a trough of low pressure in the upper atmosphere, while over the Gulf temperatures were considerably higher due to the sea still being warm from the end of summer. This disparity in temperatures ? reasonably warm air over the sea sitting below a layer of much cooler air ? was creating the instability, he said.

"It really developed over Iran. Cold air came from Iran and spread out," Mr Stevens said. The maximum temperature recorded yesterday was 24.4 degrees Celsius and the minimum 19 degrees Celsius, both of which he said were several degrees below what is expected for early December. Tomorrow, he predicted temperatures could fall as low as 17 degrees Celsius in the morning and were unlikely to reach above 23 degrees Celsius later in the day.

There was a risk of further rain and seas were likely to be heavy, with waves up to six feet, Mr Stevens said. He predicted the unsettled weather could continue for the next four days. "Ahead it will be very cool and showery for the next few days. It's going to be very unsettled," he said. [e-mail]