Residents across parts of Dubai woke up to thick fog and a chilly dip in temperatures during the wee hours of the morning. Among these were faithful who rushed to mosques after suhoor and busy office workers who kick start their day early.
Those hitting the mosques in Karama were welcomed by thick fog, lowered visibility as they walked back home and morning dew settling on cars.
A similar sight was seen in Abu Hail, where despite the lowered visibility, the crescent was quite visible.
Jameel A., an Egyptian expat coming back from prayers, was caught offguard when he went down to the mosque. “It was quite sunny and hot yesterday. I didn’t expect the temperatures to drop so drastically.” At the time, it was 18ºC in Abu Hail.
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On the other hand, commuters in the metro, who were lucky enough to enter the last cabin stood near the window to get a sight of the hazy scene.
Samantha D’souza, an Indian expat on her way to work, was delighted with the drop in temperatures. “I had read something about lowered temperatures towards the end of Ramadan. I hope this weather persists during the Eid vacations.”
In Dubai’s Al Quoz, at around 6.40am, despite the foggy views, the Sun shone through behind the thick blanket.
The iconic Burj Khalifa that is almost always visible from most parts of the city, was partially hidden behind the dense layer.
The National Centre of Meteorology issued red and yellow alerts in parts of the country today, warning residents of lowered visibility until 9am today.
The highlighted areas shared by the met on X show regions most prone to fog. These include areas in parts of Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
In the emirate of Abu Dhabi, police issued a warning to motorists calling on them to exercise caution due to reduced visibility during the fog. They have been urged to follow changing speed limits displayed on electronic information boards. The authority also reduced the speed limit on many roads in the emirate.
As per a forecast by the NCM, the weather today is expected to be fair in general and partly cloudy at times, with humidity taking over by night and Saturday morning over some internal and coastal areas especially over northern areas.
Foggy conditions are likely to continue over tomorrow morning as well, along with mist formation.
Light to moderate winds are set to blow. The sea will be slight in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.
Temperatures are expected to drop to a low of 12ºC in mountainous parts of the country, and reach a high of 36ºC in internal areas.