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Dubai is reeling from a heavy, two-day storm as roads were flooded and flights were axed at the town’s airport.
Residents within the normally sunny Emirati city were told to remain cautious and avoid going outdoors as a storm swept over the Gulf states, bringing torrential rain, thunder and hail.
Authorities issued a weather alert overnight, telling people to only enterprise out if mandatory attributable to heavy rain and the chance of flash floods.
The storm, which battered wartorn Gaza Strip and the Middle East earlier within the week, is anticipated to ease by tomorrow morning because the rain eases and offers option to sunshine, with temperatures back at the common 25C on Sunday, forecasts show.
The most recent storm triggered memories of the severe flooding in April last 12 months, when swathes of Dubai roads, homes and the airfield were waterlogged.
The brunt of the bad weather landed yesterday evening, with non-stop rain battering Dubai until Friday afternoon.
Dozens of flights at Dubai International Airport (DXB) were delayed and cancelled, including early morning services to Heathrow and Gatwick. Several flights proceed to be affected today, with dozens of flyDubai flights reporting delays, in line with Flightradar24.
Travellers booked on Emirates flights also face delays, and the upmarket airline told passengers to ascertain their flight status on its website and to reach on the airport no less than 4 hours before their scheduled departure.
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What Emirates flights from Dubai are cancelled today?
Here’s a full list of cancelled Emirates flights today, Friday, December 19, in line with the airline:
- EK977/978 Dubai/Tehran/Dubai
- EK823/824 Dubai/Dammam/Dubai
- EK945/946 Dubai/Basra/Dubai
- EK866/867 Dubai/Muscat/Dubai
- EK853/854 Dubai/Kuwait/Dubai
- EK835/836 Dubai/Bahrain/Dubai
- EK837/838 Dubai/Bahrain/Dubai
- EK705/796 Dubai/Seychelles/Dubai
- EK656/657 Dubai/Male/Dubai
- EK650/651 Dubai/Colombo/Dubai
- EK636/637 Dubai/Peshawar/Dubai
- EK043/44 Dubai/Frankfurt/Dubai
- EK322/323 Dubai/Incheon/Dubai
The airport, which handles around 96 million passengers a 12 months, said on X this afternoon: ‘Operations have returned to normal following the recent weather disruption.
‘Flights are operating as planned, with only a limited variety of connecting flights still being cleared. Please check your flight status together with your airline and plan your journey prematurely using real-time traffic updates.’
Concern grew ahead of the storm that it could upend travel plans for expats making journeys back home for Christmas, including for a whole lot of 1000’s of British nationals.
Private sector employees and all government staff were told to work at home today, while events and parks were closed.
Coupled with strong gusts, people were also told to tie down balcony furniture, and to avoid walking or driving through waterlogged roads.
The National Centre of Meteorology issued an orange alert over hazardous weather for Dubai, Fujairah, parts of Sharjah and neighbouring Abu Dhabi.
Clean-up efforts are already underway across the town, with a majority of the primary roads reportedly open within the early evening, while smaller streets are still under high water.
Residents are assessing the flood damage in affected neighbourhoods.
Rubesh Pillai, a businessman who lives in southern Dubai, barricaded his villa with a whole lot of sandbags to stop the house from flooding again. His home was flooded in 2010, 2016, 2023 and 2024.
He told The National: ‘I escaped by a whisker this storm. I used over 500 sandbags to dam the water.’
What are my rights if my flight is cancelled?
In line with the Civil Aviation Authority, UK and EU airlines must take care of you in case your flight is delayed or cancelled.
This includes every little thing from meals and accommodation to an alternate flight if mandatory.
Citizen’s Advice says that airlines also needs to give impacted passengers access to phone calls and emails and, in the event that they give you a spot to remain, organise the journeys between the hotel and the airport.
Sometimes, the airline will cover this by handing you vouchers on the airport. When unsure, keep any receipts for expenses and claim them back afterwards from the airline.
But an airline will only cough up money for ‘reasonable’ expenses. The hotel minibar or penthouse suites likely can’t be expensed.
In case you didn’t book with a UK or EU airline, you’ll need to ascertain their terms and conditions. Nonetheless, for essentially the most part, airlines should provide meals and accommodation as appropriate.
When am I eligible for this support?
Whether you’re eligible for the above relies on the space of your flight and the way long you have got waited:
- For brief-haul (as much as 1,500km over two hours or less) you could have been waiting for 2 hours or more.
- For medium-haul (between 1,500km and three,500km over two to 4 hours) it’s three hours or more.
- For long-haul (greater than 3,500km over 4 hours or more) it’s 4 hours or more.
If my flight is cancelled, can I get a refund?
In case your flight is roofed by UK law, you’ll be able to make a choice from either getting your cancelled flight refunded or being booked on an alternate route.
Any a part of your ticket you haven’t used is eligible for a refund. So, for those who were on a return flight to Heathrow, for instance, and the outbound leg was cancelled, you’ll be able to get that a part of the journey refunded.
You’ll typically get your a refund inside every week.
But not everyone seems to be up for being stuck mid-layover. In case you still need to travel, your airline must discover a option to get you to your destination.
This may include, say, if one other airliner is flying to where it’s worthwhile to go soon or if there’s one other type of transport you’ll be able to take. All at no extra cost.
Can I get any extra compensation?
What the law calls ‘extraordinary circumstances’ can include a hearth, bird strikes, defects with a plane, or bad weather.
But none of those entitles impacted passengers to extra compensation, consumer watchdog Which? says. They’re largely considered outside the airline’s control.
In other circumstances, nevertheless, it’s a special story. You’ve several rights under the law in case your journey is impacted by staff shortages, airline staff walkouts or in case your flight was delayed because bad weather delayed a previous flight.
What you’re entitled to relies on the explanation for the cancellation and the way much notice the airline gave you.
This may range from £220 for short-haul flights, £350 for mid-haul and £520 for long-haul.
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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