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Watch: Cars swept away in floods; rain pours down on pilgrims as storm lashes Makkah

While fully equipped emergency response teams were on stand-by for any incident, residents were warned not to leave their homes unless necessary

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Several cars were swept away in floods while Umrah pilgrims braved heavy rain as a storm hit the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The city's municipality had been bracing for the bad weather over the past few days, with emergency teams placed on high alert, according to reports. Fully equipped officers were on stand-by to respond to any untoward incidents.

As thunderstorms hit the holy city of Makkah on Friday, several vehicles piled up on some streets after flash floods washed them away.

Here's a video shared by weather monitoring account Storm AE:

Scenes at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Makkah, however, were quite different — with pilgrims welcoming the rain.

For Muslims, a downpour during Umrah or Hajj is considered a blessing and the water that flows through the spout of Kaaba is considered sacred.

Here's a video of the rain at the mosque:

Earlier in the day, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) issued a weather warning for the holy city of Makkah.

Residents were warned not to leave their homes unless necessary. “People must take care and not approach the sites where rainwater accumulates to ensure their safety,” the city's crisis and disaster management centre said.

Meanwhile, the NCM raised the rain alert level in Jeddah to a warning. Rain hit separate parts of Jeddah as thick clouds covered the sky over the coastal city.

(With inputs from Saudi Press Agency)

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