Snow, rain and storms wreak havoc in Middle East

Fuel shortages, price rises in Lebanon and flimsy tents in Syria bring suffering to already challenging circumstances

A snow-clad village in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon governorate, about 52km south-east of Beirut. AFP

Cedar trees are blanketed in snow in Lebanon. AFP

A man walks in the snow in Erbil, Iraq. AP Photo

Snow fills the air in Erbil. AP Photo

Israel's border with Syria is covered with snow, near the Druze town of Masada. AFP

Syrians drive their cars on a street as snow falls over Damascus. AFP

A child removes snow from the top of a tent at a camp for internally displaced people in the northern Aleppo countryside, Syria. Reuters

A child stands in the snow in Salat Zagrous, a camp for internally displaced people, in northern Syria. EPA

A camp for internally displaced people in the town of Raju in the rebel-controlled northern countryside of Syria's Aleppo province. AFP

Children at a camp for internally displaced people in Raju have fun in the snow. AFP

A windy day in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

Reindeer in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights. AFP

The Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. AFP

The Roman ruins at Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. AFP

Snow-covered houses in the town of Sohmor, western Bekaa, Lebanon. Reuters

Amadiyah, a town built 1,400 metres above sea level and located about 75km north of the city of Dohuk, in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region. AFP

Snow-covered mountains around the town of Amadiyah. AFP

Iraqi Kurds perform a traditional dance near Safin Mountain, close to the city of Irbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish autonomous region. AFP

Israeli armored corps soldiers, fix their tank chains during snowstorm near the Israel-Syrian border in the annexed Golan Heights, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams. EPA

Children slide on the snow at the Kucukcekmece district in Istanbul. AFP

A child plays with a cat in a snowy park near of the Suleymaniye mosque in Istanbul. AFP

A young Syrian boy clears the snow covering a tent at a camp for internally displaced people, near the city of Jisr al-Shugur on the border with Turkey, in the Idlib governorate of northwestern Syria. AFP

Heavy rain, snow and storms have caused disruption in countries including Palestine, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon this week.

It damaged refugee tents and sent heating costs soaring for vulnerable people across the region. Even where the cold was milder, low visibility and slippery roads caused traffic accidents.

Here’s a look at the how the weather is having an impact on people across the region.

Lebanon

In Lebanon, the cold has been compounded by an electricity crisis and soaring prices of fuel. Inhabitants in the northern region of Akkar, where temperatures dropped below freezing on Thursday, said they were struggling.

“I broke two doors in my house to burn them for heating,” said Muhammad Addali, a 34-year old municipality employee in Fneidek, a town covered in snow.

With the plummeting value of the Lebanese pound and soaring inflation, he has been able to afford only 10 litres of fuel to heat his home, where he lives with his parents, wife, daughter and four-month-old baby.

But the fuel lasts only one day and costs $75 or twice the value of his monthly salary, which has been cut significantly with the devaluation of the local currency since the start of the country’s worst-ever economic crisis two years ago.

For Mohammed Omer, the next few days will be tough as he struggles to maintain a wood-fired heater for hot water and heating.

He said he has only enough wood to get him through this storm, as forecasters predict three days of extreme cold.

“There is no electricity and diesel is expensive and I had get a bit of wood. I have to find a way to have hot water in this cold,” he said.

Read more: As snow hits Lebanon, people burn rubbish and clothes to stay warm

Egypt

Temperatures across Egypt remained the same on Thursday, continuing a five-day cold spell which brought daytime temperatures in Cairo down to 14°C, and as low as 6°C at night.

Clouds in Cairo’s skies, which were markedly dense throughout last week, will stay the same, the country’s meteorologists said.

Residents hope forecasts of warmer weather at the weekend will prove accurate as snow continues to fall over the summits of Mount Sinai, the only area of Egypt where the temperature dropped below zero.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority (Ema) announced on Wednesday night that a significant air mass was arriving from Europe, it is expected to cause a drop in temperatures in the south, particularly in Sinai and upper Egypt.

Lower Egypt and its northern Mediterranean coast will continue to record highs of 16°C and lows of 9°C over the course of next week, the Ema statement said.

Earlier this winter, the country saw a wave of rainy weather that caused flash floods in several areas. But Ema did not predict any rainfall over the course of next week. However, temperatures will probably remain on the colder side.

Palestine

Residents of Ramallah woke on Thursday to views of snow blanketing everything.

State-owned Palestine TV said the heavy snowfall had a small impact on traffic.

The Palestinian Meteorological Department said winds could reach 70 kilometres per hour and warned of high seas, low visibility and slippery roads at the weekend.

Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Hebron are expected to encounter low temperatures of almost 0°C while Gaza remains slightly warmer, at 8°C to 12°C.

Syria

An aerial view of the snow-covered Al Zaytoun camp near the city of Azaz in the northern countryside of Aleppo, where about 600 tents are set up. All photos: Moawia Atrash / The National

A child plays with a snowman at Al Zaytoun camp north of Aleppo.

A tent in Al Zaytoun camp in northern Syria that was destroyed after large amounts of snow fell on it.

A child stands next to his brother at the entrance to their tent as they look at the snow in the camp.

Khadija Suleiman, 50, displaced from the southern countryside of Aleppo, has 7 children. She said that before they were displaced, they did not feel winter because they had warm houses and money. But now that they live in tents, their financial situation is difficult and they are afraid of what is to come during the winter.

A displaced Syrian child walks near his tent and eats the snow that fell on the camp.

A child and her sister try to cover their tent, which was destroyed by a snowstorm in northern Syria.

A child makes snowballs and throws them inside the camp.

Bader Shehadeh, 50, displaced from rural Idlib, has 6 children. He said he has been displaced for 8 years and his family had been moving from one place to another before settling in the camp, where they suffer from the bitter cold. Before the war, he loved when it snowed, but now it is very difficult to deal with.

An elderly displaced Syrian woman removes snow in front of her tent.

A displaced child carrying a piece of snow walks next to his sister through the camp in northern Syria.

Aerial view of tents covered with snow in Al Zaytoun camp in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

A Syrian woman scrapes snow from her destroyed tent after a snowstorm.

Faisal, 13, scrapes snow off his tent. He says he loves snow and playing in it with his friends, but the winter has become a tragedy for his family as their tent was destroyed in the storm. In his home village, he used to have fun when it snowed, but now he is sad.

In Syria’s north-west, where thousands of internally displaced people live in tented camps, heavy snowfall damaged belongings and has already taken a life.

At least 22 sites in Aleppo and nine in Idlib were affected, the UN said.

Over 2,124 people from 429 families have been affected, and at least one child has been killed after snow accumulated on the roof of his tent, causing it to collapse in the Qastal Miqdad area.

His mother is in intensive care.

“The most pressing needs are reopening of the roads for uninterrupted access to the sites, moving the affected persons to safe places, securing means for heating, replacing destroyed tents, providing ready-to-eat meals and winter clothes for children and families,” the UN said in its latest flash update on Wednesday.

Read more: Syria’s displaced and most vulnerable hit by heavy snowfall

Around the region

People play in the snow on Jebel Al Lawz (Mountain of Almonds), west of Saudi Arabia's city of Tabuk. All photos: AFP

People have been flocking to Jebel Al Lawz in recent days after snow began to fall in the area.

Visitors melt snow to make coffee at Jebel Al Lawz.

A man lights a fire after snowfall in the mountain region.

Temperatures have dropped below 0°C in the region.

Jebel Al Lawz is in the north-west of Saudi Arabia, near the Jordanian border, in the Tabuk province.

Snow also fell from Iraq's Kurdistan to Saudi Arabia's deserts.

For those in the semi-autonomous region of Iraq, this meant travel chaos with mountainous roads between key cities as snow in Kurdistan piled up and freezing temperatures made it impassible.

In Saudi Arabia, tourists and locals in the country's north enjoyed the sight.