UAE weather: Red alert issued for UAE's north-east coast

Heavy rain is expected this weekend. Pawan Singh / The National

A red alert has been issued for the north-east of the country, warning of hazardous weather of "exceptional severity".

The alert, issued by the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), is in place from 6am to 6pm on Wednesday.

It warns of northwesterly winds, rain and blowing dust.

The worst of the weather will be offshore in the Arabian Gulf, which is expected to see rough to very rough conditions at times, and Fujairah.

#Alert #NCM pic.twitter.com/VChFAFq5eH

— المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@NCMS_media) December 18, 2019

However, vast swathes of the country are also covered by a yellow alert, warning people to be on the lookout for bad weather.

Wednesday will see the UAE's third day of rain and intermittent showers.

There will be a drop in temperatures and relative humidity will increase during the evening and on Thursday morning.

Wind speeds may reach up to 45 kilometres per hour by the coast and on mountains on Wednesday.

Sandstorms are expected in some parts of the country, according to NCM.

Temperatures could reach 27°C in Abu Dhabi and 25°C in Dubai, the NCM said.