Egypt shuts two Red Sea ports due to bad weather

Nuweiba was closed on Wednesday, followed by the larger Sharm El Sheikh port on Thursday

A ferry to Aqaba Jordan at Nuweiba, north of Sharm El Sheikh Egypt. Photo: Alamy

Maritime activity has been halted at the Red Sea port of Sharm El Sheikh due to unstable weather, the area’s port authority on Thursday.

A sharp increase in wind speed and air pressure has caused concern over the bad weather on the Red Sea, the authority said.

Another major port in the area, Nuweiba, was closed on Wednesday night after Egypt’s meteorological authority issues a warning that weather in the area would worsen over the coming days.

Wind speeds reached 42.59kph, the authority said.

Employees at the area’s ports have been put on alert in case the weather gets even worse.

The Red Sea province of South Sinai has had bad weather over the past week, with high winds, rain and low temperatures.

Despite the weather being a little bit warmer over the past week, meteorologists have said temperatures across Egypt are expected to drop by up to 4°C this weekend.

The capital, Cairo, witnessed a significant shift in weather on Thursday, with clear sunny skies in the morning quickly giving way to dense clouds and strong gusts of wind.

Visibility in several parts of the country, including Cairo, was also much worse on Thursday than earlier in the week due to dust blown in from neighbouring desert regions.