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Heavy fog to continue in UAE until Friday

Dubai - The National Center of Meteorology and Seismology said visibility in some areas of Dubai on Wednesday morning was less than 50 metres.

Thick fog engulfed most parts of Dubai on Wednesday morning, causing some flight delays at the world's busiest international airport.

"Normal operations at Dubai International Airport (DXB) were disrupted on Wednesday morning due to heavy fog, resulting in a number of delays and a total of 13 diversions," said Dubai Airports in a statement.

"Dubai Airports (has worked) with airlines, air traffic control, the ground handler and control authorities to restore operations and minimise inconvenience to our customers," it added.

The National Center of Meteorology & Seismology (NCMS) said visibility in some areas of Dubai on Wednesday morning was less than 50 metres.

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.

Delays also hit Abu Dhabi's international airport but Etihad flights were not affected.

An Etihad spokesperson said: "Etihad Airways confirms that it had no diversions or cancellations to its flights due to the fog at Abu Dhabi Airport on the morning of December 28. The airline maintained its scheduled operations, although a number of flights experienced small to moderate delays to their departure. All connections were maintained."

Fog was also reported over Ras Al Khaimah Airport, Sharjah Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. 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, causing long tail backs.

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. 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