Video: Dense fog, mist take over UAE, flights delayed in Abu Dhabi

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Weather forecasters cautioned drivers about heavy fog and mist that continued throughout Friday night and into the early morning on Saturday, as visibility across the UAE's roads were down to 1,000 metres. After morning hours, sudden mist enveloped Dubai late in the afternoon. Dubai Police tweeted sounding an alert to motoristson the highways of Sheikh Zayed Road, Jebel Ali and Deira, to drive with extreme caution.

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- ???? ??????? (@Storm_centre) Flights delayed

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) reported early morning mist over Abu Dhabi International Airport, Sharjah and other parts of the country.

There was overnight fog formation over the Abu Dhabi International Airport and it affected travel plans of holiday makers and weekend flyers as most of the flights got delayed.

Passengers are advised to contact the Etihad Airways Contact Centre on +9712 599 0000 for information.

Due to the ongoing poor weather conditions in Abu Dhabi, we have been experiencing several delays and cancellations in our flights throughout the night of Friday 22 December and today, Saturday morning 23 December 2017. (1/3)

- Etihad Airways (@EtihadAirways) We will continue to monitor the weather conditions and have contingency plans in place should there be any further disruption to our flight schedule. (2/3)

- Etihad Airways (@EtihadAirways) Affected guests are advised to contact the Etihad Airways Contact Centre on +971 (0) 2599 0000 for more information.

The safety of our guests and crew is of utmost importance to us, and we regret any inconvenience caused. (3/3)

- Etihad Airways (@EtihadAirways) The NCM said the relative humidity is also expected to rise starting from evenings to night and into early mornings. Formation of fog and mist will continue and will be heavy in interior and coastal areas across the country.

The visibility will be between 1,000m to 1km. Also, fog formation along coastal areas will lead to poor visibility of less than 1 nautical mile.

- ?????? ?????? ??????? (@NCMS_media) The lowest temperature recorded over the country was 10 degree Celsius in Al Dhaiid. Areas in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah saw temperature range from 12 to 18 degree Celsius.

With changing weather conditions, the NCM has urged residents to be on the alert.

"Residents should be careful while on the road and engaging in any outdoor activity," the NCM said and urged residents to comply with advice issued by the authorities.

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Making a forecast, the NCM said: "It will be fair to partly cloudy in general and hazy at times. There will be light to moderate winds. The relative humidity will increase during night and early morning over some internal and coastal areas, with a chance of fog and mist formation."

- ?????? ?????? ??????? (@NCMS_media) The Arabian Sea and Oman Sea are set to be slight to moderate.

On Fridaymorning, all of Abu Dhabi City and western regions of Madinat Zayed, Ruwais, Sila and Ghayathi areas of Al Dhafra region were covered in fog.

Flights departing to Jeddah, Bahrain, Muscat, Cairo, Khartoum, Islamabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Dhaka, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Colombo, Manila, Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles, Dallas, Dusseldorf, Seychelles, Paris, Puket, Athens, Rome, Dublin, Beirut and Amsterdam got delayed on Friday.

Also, flights arriving from Jeddah, Muscat, Bahrain, Kuwait, Cairo, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Brisbane and Dhaka were late by half-an hour to few hours.

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