Strong winds, rain and hail swept across parts of the UAE on Tuesday as unsettled weather continued across the country.
A powerful storm hit Al Amerah in Al Ain, where gusting winds sent loose objects flying through the air and caused some localised damage. Rain was also recorded in Saa to the east of Al Ain.
In Dubai, some areas were hit by a hailstorm, while rain was reported in Al Faw in Sharjah and Al Faqa on the Dubai-Al Ain road.
The National Centre of Meteorology says further rain is expected in southern and eastern areas of the country on Wednesday and Thursday, when temperatures will also be higher in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The high in Al Ain on Wednesday is forecast to reach 48°C, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi expected to top out in the low 40s. Fujairah will be relatively cool at 36°C.
Humidity is also expected to rise on Wednesday, with fog a factor in western coastal regions on Thursday morning.
El Nino still to come
The World Meteorological Organisation has forecast that a rapidly strengthening El Nino will drive above-normal temperatures across much of the world over the next three months.
The UN weather agency's update forecasts that the tropical Pacific warming event will intensify quickly during the August to October period, with climate models pointing to a strong El Nino peaking later in the year and showing unusually high agreement among forecasting systems.
Southern Africa, much of South America and New Zealand are also expected to see warmer-than-normal conditions.
Rainfall patterns are also expected to shift sharply in what the agency described as “a classic, strong atmospheric response to Pacific El Nino”.
The report forecasts below-normal rainfall across the Indian subcontinent, southern and eastern Australia, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and north-western South America.
Wetter-than-normal conditions are expected across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, the Greater Horn of Africa, parts of Central Asia, the northern Arabian Peninsula and south-eastern South America.
