DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates faced its heaviest rainstorm in months on December 19, prompting airport authorities to cancel or delay dozens of flights and leaving roads flooded in major cities. Dubai’s Emirates airline axed 13 flights, while neighboring Sharjah’s airport also saw delays and cancellations after an overnight downpour accompanied by lightning and thunder.
Sharjah’s main street was completely submerged, with residents wading through water and one man seen riding a bicycle with water reaching the top of the wheels. The scenes recalled April 2024, when record rains caused widespread flooding and forced the cancellation of over 2,000 flights at Dubai’s main international airport.
Dubai police had urged residents to stay indoors on December 18 as the storm approached. Early on December 19, water-pumping trucks were deployed across Dubai to clear blocked roads and large puddles. The Dubai Airports website listed numerous flight delays and cancellations, with a spokesman confirming the disruptions were due to adverse weather.
The National Center of Meteorology warned of rainfall across the country from December 18 to 19, affecting Dubai and the capital Abu Dhabi. Other Gulf states, including Qatar, also experienced heavy rain, leading to the cancellation of the Arab Cup football third-place play-off between Saudi Arabia and the UAE on December 18.
The 2024 downpours in the UAE, the heaviest since records began 76 years ago, killed at least four people and brought Dubai to a standstill for days. A study by the World Weather Attribution group found that global warming caused by fossil fuel emissions “most likely” intensified the extreme rains that hit the UAE and Oman in 2024.