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Video: Motorists watch out, thick fog grips UAE

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Video: Motorists watch out, thick fog grips UAE

Slow moving traffic on Al Ittihad road towards Dubai Wednesday morning. Photo by Shihab

Dubai - Meteorologists have urged motorists to be cautious due to low horizontal visibility caused by fog in various parts of the country.

Published: Wed 28 Dec 2016, 5:27 AM

Updated: Thu 29 Dec 2016, 9:33 AM

  • By
  • Web Team

Residents woke up to heavy fog and cold weather conditions Wednesday morning. The visibility was reduced to less than 50 meters, making it difficult for commuters. Meteorologists predict that the fog is likely to continue over most coastal and internal areas of the country and the highways.
The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology, NCMS, has urged motorists to be cautious due to low horizontal visibility caused by fog in various parts of the country.

 
Fog was reported over Ras Al Khaimah airport, Sharjah airport and Al Maktoum airport late night. Heavy fog transformation also was observed on Abu Dhabi-Dubai, Abu Dhabi-Al Ain and Abu Dhabi-Al Gheweifat highways. Visibility was reduced to less than 200 meters.
Fog also engulfed various internal and coastal areas, such as Liwa, Al Minhad and Sweihan, reducing the visibility to less than 200 meters.
 
 
The NCMS even issued a warning last night about the continuity of fog over western coastal areas, nearest onshore areas and some western offshore areas, making the visibility less than 500 meters.
 
 
The weather forecast for today is fair to partly cloudy weather.
Light to moderate winds in general, freshening at times over the sea to the west. 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.
Temperatures will go as high as 34°C and as low as 10°C in the internal areas.
Sea will be moderate to rough in the Arabian Gulf and Oman Sea.
 
Here are some visuals:
 

 Also read: Eight tips to drive safely during fog
Know the weather
Before even setting off, make sure that you have an idea of the current weather conditions. If you're on your way to work, give a call to your superiors to notify them that you'll be coming late due to foggy roads.
Stay far from other vehicles than usual
One of the major causes of accidents in a fog are cars being close together. That being said, stay farther from other cars than usual and...
Drive SLOW
Don't be in a rush to get out of the fog. If you've done point number one and called in to be late, then take your time through the traffic.
Use your car's safety features
These include: Fog lights, driving lights, windshield wipers, hazard signals and car defroster. Keeping your windshield clean is imperative since fogs are known for blurring out windshields. Hazard signals and fog lights make sure other motorists see you and will know to stay within a safe distance.
AVOID wandering off your lane
Even if traffic is better on the other lane, try not to change lanes as you'll never know if there's a vehicle that is coming from behind.
Watch for animal crossings
Especially in the backroads of each emirate, there's an off chance of camels passing by.
Ask for help
If you have passengers aboard, ask them to help you keep an eye out on things.
Just take public transport
If the fog is intimidating, you can always opt to take public transport such as the bus, the Metro or even the water bus (when speaking of Dubai). The UAE has continuously encouraged residents to take public transport and in situations like fog, it comes as a welcome option.



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