Is UAE about to be hit with 'extreme' cold weather?

A bright red star in the sky which represents the beginning of "extreme cold weather" in the Arab region has been spotted over UAE skies.

The Antares star, often called the Heart of the Scorpion, was used by Arabs in the past to depict when the harsh winter was coming their way.

Hasan Al Hariri, the CEO of the Dubai Astronomy Centre, said the star is often spotted during this time of the year and was used by Arab sea travelers, who used it to predict when cold weather, strong winds and heavy rains was approaching them.

"This is a giant star, which is very close the center of our galaxy. It appears at the beginning of the middle of the winter, which is the current time. It comes at the dawn time and with that Arabs used to say that the Marabanea season (Arabic for extreme cold weather) has started. This depicts that it will be extremely cold and if people don't protect themselves properly, they will get sick," Al Hariri said.

"The shamal (Arabic for cold winds) hits and it's shivering cold and the sea becomes rough. The shamal is the arctic wind which blows from Siberia. This affects people in different ways - catching fish, protecting animals from cold and seeing the birds. I can recall from our childhood, when we were asked to wear warm clothes and not play in the water."

A Meteorologist at UAE's National Centre for Meteorology (NCM) told Khaleej Times that there will be a decrease in temperature all over the country on Saturday, however, the weather conditions will return to the average of 24 degrees Celsius by Sunday.

He said that the stars were often used to predict weather by Arabs in the past days, especially those who would travel by sea.

The lowest temperature on Saturday is expected to decrease to 19 to 21 degrees Celsius.

The meteorologist said: "For Thursday and Friday, the temperature will not see any decrease or increase. It will be almost constant, give or take a degree.  There will be not much difference.

On Friday night, the cold winds will start to approach from Northwest of the Arabian Gulf. The winds will gradually dominate the whole country by Saturday. The temperature will decrease by two or three degrees. Some locations might experience a decrease of up to 4 or 5 degrees.

The winds will approach from the sea but far west over the Northwest of the Arabian Gulf, by Friday night and on Saturday over the coastal areas."

sarwat@khaleejtimes.com