Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Flights cancelled in Dubai as heavy rain submerges parts of city

‘Weather conditions have heavily impacted the entire city,’ says organiser of cancelled sports event

Zoe Tidman
Saturday 11 January 2020 12:33 EST
Comments
Floods in Dubai cause transport chaos

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Flights have been cancelled in Dubai after torrential rain left parts of the city underwater.

Flooding and heavy rainfall has caused disruption at Dubai International Airport.

Its operator said delays were likely to continue throughout Saturday, while some flights have been cancelled or diverted.

Images shared on social media showed streets submerged by water and even parts of the airport flooded.

Dubai’s government said there had been “unusually heavy rain”, causing “pools of water” in some parts of the United Arab Emirates‘ largest city.

People could be seen standing in ankle-high water in the middle of roads in images shared by Dubai’s official media centre.

Emirates Airline tweeted: “Heavy rainfall has caused disruptions to several flights departing from or arriving at [Dubai International] today.”

They advised people to check their flight status before travelling.

Dubai International is one of the world’s busiest airports and home to both the airlines Emirates and Flydubai, who also said some flights were being delayed or diverted following the heavy rain.

The first major endurance motorsport event of the year kicked off in Dubai on Friday, but was called off before its halfway point due to the torrential rain.

The Dubai 24 Hours race was cancelled the next morning as officials said water on the track and in the pit lane rose as bad weather continued overnight.

“The weather conditions have heavily impacted the entire city and the infrastructures of Dubai Autodrome,” organisers Creventic said.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in