Rumours of thunderstorms and hailstones ‘baseless’, says UAE weather bureau

Residents urged to ignore false reports that the UAE will face extreme weather conditions for the next two weeks that could result in losses of public and private properties.

DUBAI // Online reports of thunderstorms, lightning, rain and hailstones in the UAE for the next two weeks have been refuted.

The National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) has urged residents “not to heed rumours” of a US navy report that have been circulating on social networking sites and SMS.

The report claimed that the country would be hit by thunderstorms, lightning and severe rain from Monday for the next 13 days.

It also claimed that bad weather would result in losses to private and public properties.

“This information is incorrect and baseless,” said NCMS in a statement on Sunday evening.

It said residents should approach the weather bureau for accurate information on the climatic conditions in the country.

In its forecast, NCMS warned of fog on Tuesday morning and advised people to drive carefully.

It also urged people to refrain from going to sea on Monday night due to rough conditions.

“The country has been affected the last few days by unstable weather conditions and witnessed cloudy weather over most parts of the country with different intensities of rain,” it said.

The maximum recorded rainfall was 34.6 mm at Sweihan while different parts of the UAE witnessed heavy rain with hail at times.

This unstable weather condition was accompanied by strong winds at times that exceeded 55 km/h, raising the dust and sand, and resulting in horizontal visibility reaching less than 500 metres in some areas.

The visibility however substantially improved after rainfall.