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UAE rain alert: Will Dubai schools close tomorrow? Regulators in talks as unstable weather and flood danger hits emirates
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Regulators are considering school closures in certain parts of Dubai and Abu Dhabi tomorrow due to forecasts for potentially severe rainfall, according to sources in UAE schools.

SchoolsCompared has heard reports that the KHDA, Dubai’s Schools Regulator, is “in talks” regarding full school closures of Dubai schools on Thursday and Friday due to the weather forecast, although this is currently unconfirmed. Regulators are weighing up the potential travel risks for families and school flooding if the worst predictions of storm and rainfall do take place, on the one hand, with the disruption that school closures inflict on many families and their knock on impacts on each child’s education, on the other. The safety of children, families and educators is obviously a priority.

SchoolsCompared has contacted the KHDA and have been advised that currently they cannot comment, although the usual policy is to allow schools to decide for themselves.

Rain has already seen surface water impacting on schools in Dubai. Pictured Durham School Dubai.

As of 12:01PM today, Schools in Sharjah and Fujairah have already been closed, due to exceptionally heavy rain, while school trips and sports days in Dubai schools have now also been cancelled pre-emptively following the increasingly unstable weather predictions.

Below: video taken today in Dubai by our reporter as traffic alerts are issued.

Flood risk alert. Storm clouds threaten rain over Horizon English School in Dubai. Freak weather incidents are rare in the UAE, so schools face school closures awaiting stand-by from KHDA.

Rare storm clouds gathering at Horizon English School in Dubai. Photograph taken at 4:10pm 25th January 2023.

Hail hits the desert

Hail and icy rain have been reported in parts of Abu Dhabi on Wednesday , according to the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology.

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Meanwhile social media users in Riyadh City in Abu Dhabi have posted videos of white, icy rain falling in a suburban garden in the capital.

 

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A post shared by مركز العاصفة (@storm_ae)

Heavy rainshowers and storms are predicted across parts of the UAE, according to the UAR National Centre of Meterology (NCM).

The weather for Thursday is forecast to be unstable, with “rainfall of different intensities with thunder and lightning at times over scattered areas with significant decrease of temperature.”

The Abu Dhabi media office has issued a warning to car users to avoid driving unless absolutely necessary.

One source said to SchoolsCompared.com:

It is important that we do not create panic. Whilst the weather may be severe, it is manageable and is not due to last. What is most important is that we keep people safe.

As of now no official communications have been sent regarding school closures in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for Thursday 26 January yet, but SchoolsCompared continues to contact the regulators for updates. This is a live story and we will update as further information becomes available.

© SchoolsCompared.com. A WhichMedia Group publication. 2023. All rights reserved.

About The Author
Editorial Team
Live news and in-depth reviews reporting from the SchoolsCompared.com editorial and news desk teams reporting from London and the UAE. The SchoolsCompared Editorial Team combines more than a century of global experience in journalism. To contact us with news in confidence please email [email protected].

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