UAE weather: strong winds bring reduced visibility, but drone competition restarts

Strong winds across the UAE are expected to continue through the weekend, with dust storms reducing visibility over the northern and central regions.

The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology warned residents of the possibility that winds could reach up to 60kph, causing blowing sand and dust to reduce visibility to less than 500 meters.

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The Mohammed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge on Yas Island continued Friday, after the competition was halted Thursday afternoon because of strong winds.

“Two out of the three challenges that are part of the competition were interrupted by the wind,” an event spokesman said.

Twenty-six teams from 15 countries are competing for US$5 million.

There were no irregular flights delays being reported by Abu Dhabi or Dhabi international airports.

Temperatures in Abu Dhabi on Friday will see lows of 19C and highs of 33C, while Dubai is expected to see lows of 22C and highs of 34C.

Humidity is expected reach 75 per cent.

Friday and Saturday are expected to be partly cloudy with a chance of scattered rain and blowing dust.

The unstable weather is expected to continue until Tuesday.