Sandstorm engulfs parts of northern region of the UAE on Thursday.

Active, sand-stirring winds blew in separate areas across the country for eight hours from 8:30am till 4:30pm, causing horizontal visibility to be lower to less than 1,000 metres in the western areas.

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) called on the public to follow safety procedures during the dusty weather conditions and on motorists to take caution while driving, keep abreast of the NCM-issued bulletins and reports and not to spread rumours.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Police called on drivers to be cautious due to the low horizontal visibility during the dusty weather conditions and not to be preoccupied with the phone and photography in order to ensure the safety of road users. They also reduce speed to 120 km/h on Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed highway (Al Nouf-Treif). 

Friday’s weather is expected to be clear to partly cloudy with some cumulus clouds forming in the east in the afternoon, according to NCM. The weather, however, will be humid at night and on Saturday morning in some northern areas with a chance of light fog.

Light to moderate southeasterly to northwesterly winds will blow, turning to active and sand-stirring at times during the day at 10 to 25 and up to 35 km/h, while the sea will have regular to moderate waves in the Arabian Gulf and regular waves in the Sea of Oman.