Thick fog causes chaos in UAE airports and on the roads

Fog descended in dense patches on parts of the UAE on Thursday, causing traffic chaos and delays at airports.

Dubai shrouded in fog on Thursday morning. Sarah Dea / The National

ABU DHABI // Thick fog descended on parts of the UAE on Thursday morning, causing traffic chaos and delays at airports.

In Dubai, between the hours of 4am and 9am, Dubai Police announced there had been 129 traffic accidents as a result of the fog, with the command and control centre receiving some 900 calls.

At Abu Dhabi International, several scheduled morning flights to Europe were delayed by at least an hour, including the 8.30am flight to London Heathrow, which took off two and a half hours late.

Etihad Airways said all 37 of its flights into Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning had been diverted to other airports in the region "due to a technical failure at the airport".

“Dense fog is currently being reported in the Abu Dhabi area and operations will not resume until the weather has cleared,” a spokesman for the airline said.

By 11.20am, the airline said the airport had started to accept traffic as the weather improved.

“Five Etihad Airways flights have now landed at Abu Dhabi Airport, with another three diverted flights now returning to Abu Dhabi,” a spokesman said.

At 9am, Dubai Airports tweeted: “Low visibility due to fog is causing delays at #Dubai International.”

On the roads, traffic ground to a halt during the morning rush hour in Dubai as fog caused hold-ups and several crashes.

One accident occurred near Times Square mall on Sheikh Zayed Road. Others were reported on Hessa Street, opposite the Emirates Identity Authority near Sheikh Zayed Road, and on Al Nahda Damascus intersection, both resulting in traffic delays.

The chaos continued across the country, with an accident involving several vehicles on the Dubai to Al Ain road before Merghem bridge towards Al Ain.

By the end of the rush hour, the fog had already started to clear as temperatures rose, although Dubai Police continued to warn drivers to drive carefully in low visibility and keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front.

Traffic alerts on the radio reminded drivers to use headlights or fog lights rather than hazard lights to avoid confusing other drivers.

The hashtag #fog began trending on Twitter early in the morning, with users posting photos from across the country. One user said visibility was less than 250m on Sheikh Zayed Road, while others said they could see nothing from their balconies in areas such as Dubai Marina.

Police in Abu Dhabi also used Twitter to alert drivers.

"Low visibility due to fog formation on different parts in Abu Dhabi and highways. Motorists are urged to take extra caution," they tweeted.

The National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) said that there would be lighter patches of fog on Friday morning across Abu Dhabi and out towards Dubai.

“There will be light fog in the early morning, but it will not be as bad as Thursday morning,” said NCMS. “There will be patches of fog over coastal areas from Abu Dhabi towards Dubai in the early morning, and light patches in inland areas.”