UAE weather: more rain and dust clouds forecast


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Parts of the UAE could be in for several more days of showers as unsettled weather persists, forecasters say.

The National Centre of Meteorology said a low pressure system could bring "rainy convective clouds" in the east and south by Sunday afternoon with strong winds of up to 45kph kicking up dust.

It comes amid an unsettled spell of weather for the UAE, with Sharjah and Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra region hit by downpours on Saturday.

Parts of the UAE were also hit by showers on Friday, with the NCM posting footage of drivers dealing with tough conditions on the roads.

"[It will be] fair to partly cloudy and hazy at times," the NCM said in its Sunday forecast, "with a chance of some rainy convective clouds eastward and southward by afternoon. Light to moderate winds, fresh to strong at times [will cause] blowing dust".

Temperatures could reach highs of 49°C on Sunday and sink as low as 26°C, the NCM said.

The conditions are expected to last until at least Wednesday, with the east and south mostly affected. Several days of strong winds and dusty conditions are also expected, the NCM said.

Flash floods swamped parts of the UAE's east coast in July amid an unsettled summer. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Flash floods swamped parts of the UAE's east coast in July amid an unsettled summer. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

The UAE has experienced a particularly unsettled summer. Seven people died in flash floods that swamped the UAE's east in July.

More than 800 people were rescued and thousands more were placed in temporary accommodation after torrential rain inundated people's homes.

The NCM said it was the wettest July in decades.

Rain and flooding in the Northern Emirates - in pictures

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare

Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.

How to invest in gold

Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.

A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.

Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”

Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”

Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”

By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.

You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.

You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.

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Updated: August 21, 2022, 1:29 PM`