Rain again hit the UAE yesterday with the heaviest falls in Abu Dhabi, above. The wet weather is set to last until at least Thursday and experts say that the duration of the poor conditions is unusual. Ravindranath K / The National
Rain again hit the UAE yesterday with the heaviest falls in Abu Dhabi, above. The wet weather is set to last until at least Thursday and experts say that the duration of the poor conditions is unusualShow more

No respite as more rain forecast across the UAE



Showers in April are not unusual as the weather is changing from winter to summer, said a scientist with the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS).

But it is unusual for the unstable weather conditions to last so long, he added, with some clouds and rain expected until at least Thursday.

Scattered rain is expected today, while tomorrow, south-easterly winds saturated with moisture from the Arabian Sea, will possibly mean more frequent and heavier rainfall.

As has been the case over the past week, most of the rainfall is expected to be over Abu Dhabi emirate.

"The situation is normal, but the duration and the frequency [of the rainy spell] is not," said the centre's scientist, who declined to be named.

The changes started on April 21 and intensified over the weekend, reaching a peak on Saturday.

The highest rainfall recorded in the past week was 126.4 millimetres on Wednesday in Al Quaa in the Eastern part of Abu Dhabi, near Al Ain. Over the past week, 43.6mm was recorded in Hameem and 41.8mm in Sweihan, an area with many farms.

Yesterday, Bida Said in Abu Dhabi recorded 22.5mm of rain.

The amounts are higher than average. Between 2003 and 2010, the average rainfall in April in Abu Dhabi was 11.4mm, while in the UAE it was 8.16mm.

The record for rainfall in Abu Dhabi was set in 2003, with 189.8mm falling in Razeen.

Ahmed Al Sajwani, UAE representative of ArabiaWeather.com, a private company that provides weather products and services for the Arab world, said the weather conditions are " unusual but not unheard of".

"What meteorologists know about the UAE is that rainfall varies significantly from one year to another," he said.

Mr Al Sajwani said that since 2009, March and April have been wetter than usual, but that the UAE is far less affected by unstable weather than Oman and Saudi Arabia, where extensive flooding has occurred.

In addition, the NCMS has been seeding clouds since April 21 to enhance rainfall. However, cloud seeding cannot explain the weather entirely.

"We are only enhancing the rainfall," said the scientist.

Although no flooding is expected, 40 water tankers are on standby in Dubai ready to respond.

Tariq Ahmad Al Shamsi, head of the drainage network section at Dubai Municipality, said they had informed the department's employees to be ready to switch to round-the-clock shifts if weather conditions get any worse.

"We have been in contact with the Met office and, in anticipation of the rain, we lowered the water levels on all the pump stations in the storm water network," said Mr Al Shamsi.

"But because this rainfall has been slow and intermittent, there really has been very little rise in the water levels in the network, everything has been running smoothly."

Mr Al Shamsi also said they had not received any calls about large water puddles.

"Almost every time we have rain, our department gets called to send out our tankers to clear large accumulations of water. This time we have not received any calls."

Most of the city is now connected to the storm drain network which prevents water from accumulating, he said.

The department will remain on high alert until the end of the week.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Police have called on the public to take the necessary safety measures as unsettled weather continues. Patrols are being intensified across the emirate as a precautionary action.

On Saturday, Dubai Police central operations room received 4,000 phone calls in a 24-hour period beginning at 6am and logged 687 road accidents due to rainfall and unstable weather, said Brig Omar Abdul Aziz Al Shamsi.

In Sharjah, one Emirati youth died and two others were injured in a road accident on Saturday evening. The dead youth was identified as Mohammed HH, 17. The injured were Yousef MH, 17, and Yousef MT, 20.

Maj Khaled Al Kayi, director of awareness and media at Sharjah Traffic Police said that speeding and bad weather were among the causes of the accident.

Workers have started to clean up the roads and buildings in Sharjah affected by weekend rains, said Yousef Abdullah, director of the solid waste department at the municipality.

He said that after the main roads have fully been cleared of puddles, workers would move on to internal roads. "We urge all residents with rain-related problems to call the municipality hotline and give their address so that our workers can come and clean up," he said.

malkhan@thenational.ae

* With additional reporting by Yasin Kakande

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Nick's journey in numbers

Countries so far: 85

Flights: 149

Steps: 3.78 million

Calories: 220,000

Floors climbed: 2,000

Donations: GPB37,300

Prostate checks: 5

Blisters: 15

Bumps on the head: 2

Dog bites: 1

Name: Brendalle Belaza

From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines

Arrived in the UAE: 2007

Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus

Favourite photography style: Street photography

Favourite book: Harry Potter

THE BIO

Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13 

Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier

Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife 

What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents. 

Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.

The Details

Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa

Rating: 2.5/5 

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE

Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega

Director: Tim Burton

Rating: 3/5

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Company profile

Name: Infinite8

Based: Dubai

Launch year: 2017

Number of employees: 90

Sector: Online gaming industry

Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor

How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now

Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.

The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.

1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):

a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33

b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.

2. For those who have worked more than five years

c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.

Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.

The Bio

Amal likes watching Japanese animation movies and Manga - her favourite is The Ancient Magus Bride

She is the eldest of 11 children, and has four brothers and six sisters.

Her dream is to meet with all of her friends online from around the world who supported her work throughout the years

Her favourite meal is pizza and stuffed vine leaves

She ams to improve her English and learn Japanese, which many animated programmes originate in

The Bio

Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”

Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”

Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”

Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”

Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Sweet%20Tooth
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJim%20Mickle%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristian%20Convery%2C%20Nonso%20Anozie%2C%20Adeel%20Akhtar%2C%20Stefania%20LaVie%20Owen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULT

Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')

DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENetflix%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKris%20Fade%2C%20Ebraheem%20Al%20Samadi%2C%20Zeina%20Khoury%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.