HUNDREDS of Scots holidaymakers have been left stranded after Emirates cancelled all flights from Dubai due to severe flooding.
As much as a year’s worth of rain fell in 24 hours, with images showing shopping centres and cars underwater while planes struggled to land on the wet tarmac.
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Dubai International Airport has warned travellers not to go to the airport after being forced to cancel nearly 50 flights yesterday.
They said: “We advise you NOT to come to the airport, unless absolutely necessary. Flights continue to be delayed and diverted.
“Please check your flight status directly with your airline.
“We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible in very challenging conditions.”
Meanwhile, Dubai’s flag carrier Emirates has been forced to axe all flights due to the severe weather, including one departing for Glasgow.
The airline suspended check in for passengers leaving Dubai until the end of today.
The carrier’s statement said: “Emirates is suspending check-in for passengers departing Dubai effective 8am on April 17 until midnight (12am, April 18) due to operational challenges caused by bad weather and road conditions.
“Affected customers can contact their booking agent or Emirates contact centre for rebooking.
“Passengers arriving in Dubai and already in transit will continue to be processed for their flights.”
Customers are also being told to expect delays, and to check the flight schedule on the website.
Rain is uncommon in the UAE, but it is thought that a combination of a lack of drainage and unusual timing of the raining resulted in the flooding.
It could have also been due to cloud-seeding – which is used in the UAE to increase groundwater supply by flying small planes through clouds while burning salt flares to increase rain.
Meteorologists at the National Centre for Meteorology said they flew six or seven cloud-seeding flights before the huge rainfall.