DUBAI, Jan 16, 2008 (AFP) - Rare torrential rains in the United Arab Emirates forced schools to close on Wednesday and created traffic nightmares in the desert country, while neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Kuwait shivered. Pupils received an unexpected day off in the business and leisure hub of Dubai, and five other emirates in the seven-member UAE federation were ordered by the education ministry to shut on Wednesday and Thursday because of unstable weather. Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate and federal capital, was excluded. "Under Water," blazoned a banner headline in the Dubai-based daily Gulf News over a picture of motorists and pedestrians braving rivers of rain water. Rain is seen as a boon in the UAE and other desert oil-rich Gulf countries, but the downpours of the past few days has caused chaos on the streets, trapping drivers for hours, flooding main avenues and cutting off some roads. Hundreds of accidents were reported as vehicles skidded and nerves frayed.
Dubai police, within a few hours on Wednesday, recorded 584 accidents which killed two people in the booming emirate, usually a favourite destination of tourists seeking a sunny break from cold weather at home. Five people were killed and 1,307 accidents recorded on Tuesday amid forecasts of more rains, according to the Abu Dhabi-based daily Al-Ittihad. Heavy rains have also lashed tiny gas-rich Qatar for nearly a week as temperatures dropped to an unusually low seven degrees Celsius (45 Fahrenheit), and authorities reported 1,200 drainage operations.
In Bahrain, which had its lowest recorded temperature of 2.7 degrees Celsius (37 Fahrenheit) in 1964, the mercury dropped to between five and seven degrees Celsius over the past few days, but there were only scattered showers. In Kuwait, where temperatures soar to above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in July and August, the mercury dropped to sub-zero temperatures due a cold wave originating from Siberia, but the desert state has had virtually no rain so far this winter. The temperature in the open desert dropped to minus three degrees Celsius (27 Fahrenheit) at dawn on Wednesday for the second straight day, while passengers landing at Kuwait airport were greeted by minus one Celsius (30 Fahrenheit). According to Kuwait's Met department, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the open desert was minus four degrees Celsius (25 Fahrenheit) in 1964. The cold spell was expected to continue until the weekend.
Saudi Arabia, a vast country with an area of 2,240,350 square kilometres (865,000 square miles) covering most of the Arabian peninsula, has also been hit by a unprecedented cold spell. "Kingdom finds itself in icebox," headlined the Saudi daily Arab News on Sunday as the capital Riyadh officially reached the freezing point of zero degree Celsius (32 Fahrenheit). Snow has fallen on some northern Saudi cities and at least one person died after a sudden drop in his body temperature, newspapers said. They said King Abdullah has ordered emergency relief supplies, including foodstuffs and blankets, to be distributed to needy citizens hit by the weather.
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