Dubai - NCMS has urged motorists to exercise extra caution on the roads, with periods of low visibility forecast.
Published: Thu 29 Dec 2016, 7:15 AM
Last updated: Fri 30 Dec 2016, 8:05 AM
Thick seasonal fog again has engulfed parts of the United Arab Emirates, delaying flights.
Read: Heavy fog to continue in UAE until Friday
The UAE's National Center of Meteorology & Seismology (NCMS) said on Thursday that visibility dropped below 50 meters (55 yards) in areas around the country.
NCMS has also urged motorists to exercise extra caution on the roads, with periods of low visibility forecast.
Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel and home to long-haul carrier Emirates, saw flight delays. Delays also hit Abu Dhabi and Sharjah's international airports.
Severe fog has caused the delay of some Emirates flights arriving and departing at Dubai International Airport.
In a statement sent to Khaleej Times, an Emirates spokesperson said: "A few Emirates flights arriving into Dubai were diverted to Dubai World Central Airport for additional fuel and quickly returned to Dubai International."
"Emirates apologises for the inconvenience caused. The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance and will not be compromised," the airline official added.
Dubai police said heavy fog on Wednesday caused 119 traffic crashes. Authorities offered no immediate number of crashes on Thursday as the fog appeared even thicker in some parts of the city-state, which is home to the world's tallest building.
High humidity and falling temperatures cause the fog to roll in seasonally along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
Heavy fog transformation also was observed on Abu Dhabi-Dubai, Abu Dhabi-Al Ain and Abu Dhabi Al Ghweifat highways and visibility was reduced to 50 metres.
Heavy fog also engulfed various internal and coastal areas, such as Liwa, Al Minhad and Sweihan.
High humidity and falling temperatures caused the formation of seasonal heavy fog along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Meanwhile The lowest temperature recorded on Wednesday was eight degrees Celsius in Damsa at 6.15am.
NCMS said morning fog and mist weather condition with light to moderate winds will continue on Thursday and Friday. Thursday's temperature will range from 14 to 31 degrees Celsius in coastal areas, and from 10 to 34 degrees Celsius in internal areas.
Weather on Friday is expected to be fair to partly cloudy at times. Light to moderate winds in general freshening at times over the sea. The relative humidity is likely to increase during night and early morning over some internal and coastal areas, with a chance of fog/mist formation over scattered areas. Sea will be moderate and may get rough at times to the west in Arabian Gulf and moderate in Oman Sea.
The NCMS has urged motorists to be cautious due to low horizontal visibility caused by fog in various parts of the country.
Dubai Police also told motorists to exert caution while driving through heavy fog by keeping enough distance between vehicles and not using the car's hazard lights except in an emergency. Low beam lights should also be switched on and indicators are a must when changing lanes.
angel@khaleejtimes.com
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