Hail showers hit Sharjah

Videos posted to social media show large hail stones hitting parts of the emirate

A screenshot from a video posted on Storm Centre's Twitter account showing a hail in Sharjah. Courtesy Storm Centre

Heavy hail showers have hit parts of Sharjah over the past 24 hours.

Videos posted to Storm Centre, a social media channel dedicated to extreme weather, showed hail stones failing in the Mleiha area.

لحظة تساقط البرد يوم امس الاربعاء في منطقة مليحة بالمنطقة الوسطى للشارقة #الامارات ، تصوير ابراهيم الشحي #مركز_العاصفة
١٤ اغسطس ٢٠١٩ pic.twitter.com/SOdiy3MUYR

— مركز العاصفة (@Storm_centre) August 15, 2019

Some of the stones appear quite large - close to the size of a golf ball - and the video shows vehicles pulled over as the showers pass. Overcast skies persist sullenly overhead.

Unsettled weather has hit parts of the UAE over the past few weeks.

During the Eid Al Adha break, heavy rain lashed parts of Ras Al Khaimah.

The National Centre of Meteorology had warned of unsettled weather and videos posted to its account also showed rain hitting parts of the UAE over the past week.

The rain and hail is partly due to monsoons in India. Parts of the weather system can drift across the Indian Ocean and affect conditions here.