Abu Dhabi residents woke up this morning to a foggy, hazy and dusty weather, expecting to find their cars getting a good wash by falling rain overnight. Instead, they were shocked to find their vehicles covered with mud.
“I went to my car this morning to go to work and I was really surprised…I could not drive it as it was covered by mud,” said Osama Hariri, an Abu Dhabi mobile phone dealer.
“I could see the rain last night and thought my car will get a good wash…instead, it got so dirty that it was impossible to drive it….it seems it rained mud last night.”
Met officials in the capital explained that the phenomenon involved medium rain which was accompanied by a dust storm on Saturday night.
“Rain water mixed with sand and dust this led to what people think was a muddy rain…this is a familiar phenomenon in the Arabian Peninsula.”
Thousands cars appeared muddy on Sunday following difficult weather conditions that have hit the UAE and other desert Gulf countries over the past two days.
Scores of people were seen struggling in the early hours of the morning to remove piles of sandy dust that formed after the muddy rain dried up hours later.
“I spent nearly half an hour trying to clean my car…I had to do this or I could be fined by the traffic police,” said Abdullah Gaddag, an Abu Dhabi-resident.