As it happened: UAE's largest single day of rainfall in 75 years

Our live reporting on the UAE's historic rainfall has now finished. Please find our full report on the extreme weather here.

President Sheikh Mohamed received phone calls from King Abdullah II of Jordan and Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, in which they expressed their wishes for the safety of the UAE following the storm that hit the country this week.

Sheikh Mohamed thanked both King Abdullah and Mr Sharif for their gestures of support, saying it showed the strength of the relations that unites the UAE with Jordan and Pakistan, state news agency Wam reported on Friday.

Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah,  has issued directives to authorities in the wake of the damage caused by the floods in recent days.

Sheikh Dr Sultan instructed the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure to reopen valley drains which were previously filled in resulting in significant rainwater accumulations in residential neighbourhoods within the city, state news agency Wam reported on Friday.

He also said emergency services and relevant authorities should provide logistical support to address the weather impacts on residents in the emirate.

Dubai property developer Emaar has said it will repair flood damage to its properties free of charge for those living in affected homes.

"I am pleased to announce that Emaar will undertake the repair of all properties within our communities that have been damaged by the recent rains at its own cost to ensure that our residents can return to their daily lives as swiftly and smoothly as possible,” said Emaar's founder Mohamed Alabbar on Friday.

“Emaar has always strived to support our community in times of need, and as a responsible company, we undertake to provide all possible support in such situations, including complete repair of our customers’ homes.”

Emaar is not the only property developer offering to repair flood damage to homes at its own cost.

"In light of the unprecedented weather conditions experienced in the UAE earlier this week, it is incumbent upon us to stand by our customers during these challenging times," said Talal Moafaq Al Gaddah, chief executive of MAG lifestyle Development, who is also footing the cost of repairs for affected residents.

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has confirmed that all Green Line stations are operational again after the floods that caused mayhem across the city earlier this week.

The RTA made the announcement on its social media feed on Friday evening.

These include Dubai Mall/ Burj Khalifa, Mall of the Emirates, Business Bay, Emirates Tower and Dubai Internet City stations.

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has offered a further update on routes that are operational again following the heavy flooding from earlier in the week.

The Centrepoint to Expo 2020 and Jebal Ali to UAE Exchange routes on the Red Line are up and running again in both directions.

However, they are not stopping at the following stations: On Passive, Equiti, Mashreq and Energy.

Sharjah Police have confirmed that two motorists died of carbon monoxide poisoning during flooding caused by this week's storms.

Maj Gen Saif Al Shamsi, commander-in-chief of Sharjah Police, said the two people stopped their car on Al Wahda Street on Tuesday due to heavy traffic and flooding.

The victims were reported to be from Asia.

“The car was stationary due to the traffic jam and the air conditioning was running," Maj Gen Al Shamsi said.

Two other men travelling in the car left the vehicle to assess the situation.

“At this time, the vehicle was completely sealed, which unfortunately led to the accumulation of carbon monoxide from the running air conditioning unit," he added.

“The autopsy confirmed their death was due to carbon monoxide poisoning."

A 70-year-old Emirati man died in Ras Al Khaimah when his vehicle was caught in floodwaters.

Some UAE restaurants are offering free meals to support those people affected by severe weather.

Circle Cafe, Operation Falafel, High Joint Burger and Zaroob are among the outlets offering free food and water.

Dubai Irish pub Fibber Magee's is also offering free lunch to people affected.

The free meals are available on Friday only, for pick-up or dine-in, during the venues' operating hours.

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The scale of the recovery operation in Dubai has been revealed by authorities.

More than 400 water pumps, 300 water tanks and more than 200 heavy vehicles, including lorries and bulldozers, were used by the Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Municipality and the emirate's civil defence and police.

The clean-up also involves more than 2,500 personnel, including engineers, technicians and contractors.

“The authority deployed its emergency and crisis management team, which operated out of the unified command centre,” said Mattar Al Tayer, director general of the RTA.

"A joint control room was also activated to address rainwater accumulation, operated by representatives of Dubai Police, Dubai Municipality and real estate developers.

“The Roads and Transport Authority, in co-operation with Dubai Municipality, Dubai Police, and Dubai Civil Defence, managed rainwater pools to ensure the safety of residents and road users.”

In the initial phase, field teams concentrated on restoring the Dubai Metro service, he added.

“Efforts also included addressing rainwater accumulation on various streets, particularly focusing on major arteries such as Sheikh Zayed Road, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road and Airport Road,” Mr Al Tayer added.

“Water was removed from various streets in a record time, allowing traffic to return to normal.”

Air India has cancelled all flights to and from Dubai International Airport.

The airline, which operates 72 weekly flights from various cities to Dubai, said cancellations were due to operational disruptions at the airport.

“We are doing our best to get affected customers on their way by re-accommodating them on flights as soon as operations resume,” the airline said.

Air India added that customers booked on our flights up until with valid tickets for travel up until April 21 will be offered "a one-time waiver on rescheduling and full refunds for cancellations".

Services at the airport have been disrupted by the flooding from torrential rain this week.

Dubai International Airport has announced it will limit its number of inbound flights, due to continuing delays caused by this week's storms.

The directive will be in place for 48 hours, as of noon on Friday.

“We're endeavouring to do our best to support guests impacted by delays due to recent unprecedented weather conditions,” the airport said on X.

“However, due to the ongoing disruption, and to speed up recovery, we are temporarily limiting the number of arriving flights from 12pm on 19 April for 48 hours.”

At the beginning of the week, the country witnessed its heaviest rainfall since records began 75 years ago.

Some areas recorded more than 250mm of rain in less than 24 hours.



Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority has reinstated intercity bus services to Al Ain and Fujairah.

Travellers can now use services on several routes, including Al Ghubaiba Bus Station to Al Ain Bus station (E201) and Union Bus Station to Fujairah Bus Station (E700).

Services to all other emirates, including Ajman, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, are still suspended, the authority said.

Etihad Airways has resumed all flight operations, it was reported on Friday.

The UAE's flagship carrier, which operates from Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, suffered delays to flights on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the rainstorms that hit the country, state news agency Wam reported.

It said that some flights may still be disrupted as a result of the severe weather.

Etihad urged passengers to visit its website to check the status of their flights and departure times.

Zayed International Airport received flights diverted from Dubai during the storms.

“Within the last 24 hours, 21 flights, including one freighter and passenger flights, were diverted from Dubai International Airport to Zayed International Airport,” a representative for Abu Dhabi Airports told The National on Wednesday.

The UAE is braced for more wet weather next week after being lashed by record rainfall in devastating storms on Tuesday.

The National Centre of Meteorology said there was a prospect of light rain on Monday evening, followed by further rain over parts of the Emirates the following day.

The Windy weather app shows rain largely concentrated over Dubai, projecting more wet weather and possible thunder in areas of the emirate on Tuesday.

In its latest five-day bulletin, the NCM said that Tuesday would be “cloudy at times with a chance of rainfall over scattered areas of the country, with a decrease in temperatures over some coastal areas”.

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Dubai Airports is facing “very challenging times indeed” after the disruption caused by the severe storms this week, chief executive Paul Griffiths has said.

“We've still got many thousands of people in [Dubai International Airport] desperate to reach their destination,” he told CNBC on Friday.

“Passenger welfare is right at the top of our agenda. We delivered 45,000 bottles of water to people over the last couple of days and we're continuing to provide supplies to the airport to keep everyone fed and watered so their basic needs are cared for.

“These are very challenging times indeed. Our focus is on getting people away.”

When asked about potential compensation for passengers affected by delays, Mr Griffiths said the focus is on helping travellers reach their destination.

“The airport isn't designed to cope with many, many thousands of people stuck on the concourses, so that is the thing we are trying to clear,” he added.

Mr Griffiths said “we're not even beginning to count” the financial effects of the storms.

The European Space Agency has shared a photograph of the widespread damage caused by this week's storm in the UAE.

The agency released images of Dubai taken by Copernicus Sentinel-2 Earth observation satellite.

“This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image, captured yesterday 17 April, is a false colour composite which highlights flooded areas in turquoise. Red patches in the image indicate vegetation,” the agency said.

“Sentinel-2 provides crucial data for flood monitoring and management, enabling timely and accurate assessment of flood extent and severity through high-resolution satellite imagery.”

Emirates airline has suspended check-in for passengers transiting through Dubai until early Saturday morning.

The airline said the decision would support recovery efforts after record rainfall in the UAE this week that caused widespread disruption at Dubai International Airport.

An official said passengers who had already landed in Dubai would still be able to board connecting flights.

Emirates said check-in services would be halted until 3.59am on Saturday in the UAE.

“Emirates is suspending check-in for all customers in our network travelling with onward connections through Dubai until 2359hrs [GMT] on 19 April," an Emirates official said.

“This is to support operations recovery from the recent bad weather at our Dubai hub. 

“Passengers already in Dubai and in transit will continue to be processed for their flights.

“Customers travelling to Dubai as their final destination may check-in and travel as usual. Customers can expect delays to departures and arrivals and are advised to check the latest flight schedules on emirates.com.

“Emirates extends our sincerest apologies to impacted customers who have experienced delays and disruption to their travel plans. We appreciate how difficult it is for everyone affected. 

“Our teams are working hard to restore our scheduled operations as soon as possible.”

The Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai has provided an update on a number of roads that are currently open, despite the heavy flooding across the country.

The list of roads that are currently accessible includes:

• Oud Metha Road (partially open)
• Emirates Road (partially open at Al Qudra junction)
• Jebel Ali to Lehbab Road
• Al Yalayis Street (from Sheikh Zayed Road to Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street junction - partially open)
• Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street (from Expo Road intersection to Hessa Street)
• Al Qudra Road (from Emirates Road to Jebel Ali - Lehbab Road)
• Saih Al Salam Street
• Al Asayel Street
• Al Khail Road (from Garn Al Sabkha Street to Al Mustaqbal Street)
• Jumeirah Street
• Al Wasl Road
• Sheikh Rashid Road
• Al Nahda Street
• Oman Street

Normal operations will resume within 24 hours at Dubai International Airport, said the chief operating officer of Dubai Airports.

Majed Al Joker said a return to full capacity and regular schedule at the airport would happen within that timeframe, reported state news agency Wam on Thursday evening.

The airport was plunged into chaos earlier this week when severe storms throughout Tuesday forced numerous flights to be cancelled, delayed and, in some cases, diverted to other airports.

"Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 have already begun gradual normalisation, resulting in smoother movement," he said.

"The airport's response and emergency teams, various departments and strategic partners, and airlines have worked extensively to co-ordinate efforts to return to normal on the one hand, and to support and assist affected passengers and guests on the other."

A number of organisations from both the public and private sectors are working constantly to improve the situation at the airport, he added.

Mr Al Joker also commended "the dedicated staff for their tireless work in ensuring guest comfort and safety, expressing gratitude for travellers' understanding during this period".