Torrential downpours and flash floods brought four hours of widespread chaos to much of the country on Monday as Dubai police responded to 150 road accidents and more than 2,500 emergency calls.
No serious injuries were reported after thunderstorms and lightning strikes battered much of the UAE overnight on Sunday and early into Monday morning.
Many roads were submerged after some of the worst storms in recent years forced parts of Dubai and Abu Dhabi to a standstill.
Collisions between vehicles during a hectic morning on the roads were largely blamed on standing water, poor visibility and inexperienced motorists driving too fast in treacherous conditions.
Colonel Muhammad Al Muhairi, the acting director of command and control centre at Dubai Police, warned motorists to keep an eye on weather warnings and plan travel times accordingly.
Meteorologists said that while the worst was over, more wet weather could be one the way.
“People need to make an earlier head start to work when there is rain in order to avoid tension for being late,” Col Al Muhairi said.
“Most importantly they should avoid speeding and check their vehicles for any problems.
“Drivers should use their lights, leave enough safety distance between the car in front and stay in lane until it’s safe to change.”
Freakish weather conditions created a cocktail of chaos through the morning rush hour on Monday, with the only surprise being the lack of serious injuries reported.
A crew of seven sailors caught in the eye of the storm on Sunday evening were lucky to escape with their lives when their ship capsized near Palm Deira.
Lieutenant Colonel Ali Al Naqbai, head of maritime rescue at Dubai Police, said the ship was without a GPS system but a rescue team was deployed to the area to launch a recovery operation.
One of the two sailors who fell into the water suffered minor injuries and was swept towards a wave barrier. He was later found and rescued.
Elsewhere in Sharjah, teachers were rescued by lifeboat from their school following a flash flood that cut them off and left them stranded in waist high water.
A video was also posted on social media showing a father and daughter, also in Sharjah, escaping rising waters in a canoe.
Meanwhile, many schools across the UAE took the decision to close early because of the bad weather.
Winchester School in Jebel Ali, Dubai British School, Safa Community School, Emirates International School in the Meadows and Gems Modern Academy all closed at 12pm and parents were reminded to keep a close eye out for emails detailing further potential closures this week.
“Schools in Dubai are empowered to make weather-related closure decisions, keeping in view the interests of child safety,” said Amal Belhasa, head of the education regulator KHDA.
“Any and all decisions about school closures will be informed to parents by the school.”
On Monday, the National Centre for Meteorology issued a rare orange weather warning for much of the country to prepare for hazardous conditions and red warnings advising people to be vigilant along coastal areas between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Those warnings have since been downgraded to a yellow ‘be aware’ alert along coastal areas and at sea for Tuesday.
Standing water posed some of the biggest problems during the Monday morning rush hour, although there was no repeat of the extensive flooding at Dubai’s Green Community during the storms of 2016 that left many temporarily homeless.
As the usual traffic accumulated, tailbacks soon snaked around key routes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Motorists slowed down to a crawl to deal with flooded roads.
Hessa Street in Dubai heading towards Barsha and Umm Suqeim Road were two of the worst hit by flood waters.
Sheikh Zayed Road was reduced down to three lanes close to the new Expo metro intersection near Jebel Ali, due to flooded roads.
Filipino Habibrenz Maglinao, 28, fought through heavy floods on his morning commute, from Abu Dhabi to the factory in Jebel Ali where he works.
“The water was higher than the tyres on my Honda City and it took me ages to be able to get to work,” said the 28-year-old who works in the operations and logistics department for Belgian company Dester that designs and manufactures food packaging for airlines.
“When I finally reached the gates the security guard almost wouldn’t let me in because my number plate at the front of the car had fallen off because of the rains and floods.
“I had to phone the local police station in Jebel Ali and a driver took me over at lunchtime and thankfully someone had handed in my number plate."
____________
Read more:
UAE weather: Thunderstorms and heavy showers cause chaos
UAE hit by rain, sandstorms and lightning as extreme weather returns
Extreme weather in the UAE: Tales of sun, sand and even snow
Remembering the UAE’s Great Storm one year on
____________
He was one of many commuters caught up in the chaos.
“I had an important appointment at 9.30am and it just wasn’t happening because of the delays caused by the flooding,” said business consultant Irene Sutton, 48, who was stranded in flooding near Discovery Gardens.
“The boulevard I normally take was completely closed off so I had to take another route.
"All the traffic was closed off to one lane on the back road, they had trucks out trying to pump the water off the road.”
Forecasters are predicting further unsettled weather will continue on Tuesday before calmer weather returns on Wednesday, but warnings for motorists to be vigilant remain in place.
Tuesday will be cloudy across much of the UAE, with the northern emirates and eastern areas most likely to see more rain.
Temperatures could drop as low as 15C in the north with rough seas bringing waves up to six feet crashing onto the coastline.
Strong winds will reach 45km an hour, blowing many showers through quickly but that will also bring more dust and sandstorms, and difficult driving conditions.
Most areas will have mist and fog patches overnight on Wednesday and into Thursday morning, but temperatures are expected to rise into the weekend.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
MEYDAN CARD
6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group One (PA) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,200m
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group Two (TB) $250,000 (T) 1,800m
8.50pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
9.25pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group Two (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,600m
10pm Dubai Trophy Conditions (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m
10.35pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
The National selections:
6.30pm AF Alwajel
7.05pm Ekhtiyaar
7.40pm First View
8.15pm Benbatl
8.50pm Zakouski
9.25pm: Kimbear
10pm: Chasing Dreams
10.35pm: Good Fortune
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Brief scores:
Southampton 2
Armstrong 13', Soares 20'
Manchester United 2
Lukaku 33', Herrera 39'
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EBattery%3A%2060kW%20lithium-ion%20phosphate%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20Up%20to%20201bhp%3Cbr%3E0%20to%20100kph%3A%207.3%20seconds%3Cbr%3ERange%3A%20418km%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh149%2C900%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
