Latest: Ice in the desert - how cold does winter get in the Middle East?
Temperatures in parts of Al Ain sank to a freezing minus 5° on Monday morning.
Residents had to scrape ice from cars and icicles formed around trees and plants.
The extreme weather happened in Raknah, close to a wadi in Abu Dhabi emirate, and has been tracked by Storm Centre UAE.
Storm Centre has popular social media channels dedicated to covering the region's extreme weather.
We have never experienced such cold weather in the UAE before
Dozens of residents also gathered to experience the weather and some were forced to light a fire because the freezing conditions.
“This is my third day here,” said Emirati businessman, Hamdan Al Eissaaee, 28.
“I came on Friday after midnight and I wasn’t prepared. I did not expect it to be that cold.
“It was minus seven degrees [at one point]. I could barely stay for an hour and a half.”
Mr Al Eissaaee said he learnt his lesson and was dressed in full gear for the night. He arrived with four of his cousins on Monday at around 2am.
“At first we were excited to feel the cold temperature. We have never experienced such cold weather in the UAE before,” said his cousin Ali.
“But two hours later it got too cold so we had to light a fire.
“In the summer we escape the heat by turning on the AC and in winter we escape the cold by lighting a fire.”
'I'm cold-blooded'
Two young men who stood in freezing cold all night only dressed in light kanduras, said they disagree.
“I am cold-blooded I guess. I don’t see the need to dress warm,” said Hamad Al Mazrouei, 20.
The Emirati student was not even wearing any form of head cover, just a light kandura – the white traditional dress worn by local men.
“I am trying to absorb as much cold as I can before it gets burning hot,” said Abdullah Al Dhaheri, 30.
Fahad Mohammed, co-founder of the Storm Centre, said the team has been going every night to record the temperatures. He said across the Levant conditions were similar.
“On the first day, the temperature dropped to minus seven degrees at some point and remained at minus six most of the time," he said.
“When we poured water on anything, it immediately froze.”
Sultan Al Mansouri, 26, a photographer from the Storm Centre team said: “We did not get rain this year but thank God we were compensated with the freezing cold."
The team was founded in 2006 by Mr Mohammed, Ali Al Neyadi, Omar Al Nuaimi, Hamad Al Kaabi, Abdullah Al Jaberi and Ahmad Al Barq.
“None of us studied weather-related sciences. We all started as a hobby,” said Mr Al Neyadi, 30.
“We are from different emirates and each one reports on the weather changes in his area and we measure the strength of the wind and based on it we predict where the rain will be.
“During summer we chase rains and we went to a number of cyclones.”
Mr Mohammed said he loved nature and was dedicated to capturing its beauty.
“We chase storms, rains and snowfall everywhere in the region.”
He said their hobby proves risky at times, like when they chased Cyclone Mekunu that hit Salalah in 2018.
“We were in the middle of the tornado,” he said.
“We covered the snowfall on Jebel Jais in 2017 and 2009 and 2008.”
The freezing temperatures do not represent a record. The National Centre of Meteorology is official source of weather data in the UAE.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 424hp
Torque: 580 Nm
Price: From Dh399,000
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Name: James Mullan
Nationality: Irish
Family: Wife, Pom; and daughters Kate, 18, and Ciara, 13, who attend Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS)
Favourite book or author: “That’s a really difficult question. I’m a big fan of Donna Tartt, The Secret History. I’d recommend that, go and have a read of that.”
Dream: “It would be to continue to have fun and to work with really interesting people, which I have been very fortunate to do for a lot of my life. I just enjoy working with very smart, fun people.”
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
