Moderate to heavy rains were recorded in various parts of Qatar for several hours from late on Monday, accompanied by strong winds. While the northern region experienced heavy rains and hail, several other parts of the country, including Doha, received only scattered to moderate rain.Thundery rain was observed in northern areas such as Shamal and Ruwais along with strong winds. According to Qatar Meteorology Department, total amount of rain reached about 45ml in the early afternoon Tuesday. Social media is abuzz with videos of heavy rains in the northern parts of the country as well as the rough and turbulent waves in the sea.The Met department said that thundery rain accompanied with hail was observed at several parts of the northern region. By evening the department said that there could be thundery rains along with dusty winds mainly northeasterly to northwesterly with high speed.Meanwhile, other parts of the country received moderate to scattered rain. In addition, most parts of Qatar experienced very heavy winds and the seafront areas witnessed very rough and turbulent sea with very high waves lashing the shores. However, most parts of Doha had only scatted rains and the traffic was normal with no major incidents. The city had overcast conditions most of the time during the day.With the Eid holidays coming to an end, it was expected that all the students would start their academic session from Tuesday. However, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education had warned about the adverse weather conditions and instructed educational institutes to provide classes online for the day.Financial institutes such as the banks worked remotely with most branches closed for the day and only select branches, mostly in malls, functioned.Various parts of the region have been experiencing heavy rains for the last several days. Parts of Oman, the UAE and Saudi Arabia witnessed very heavy rains resulting in several causalities.

Weather inshore until 6pm on Tuesday will be partly cloudy to cloudy with scattered rain, and heavy thundery rain associated with blowing dust at times, the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather report; warning of thundery rain, strong wind and poor horizontal visibility at times.Offshore, the weather will be cloudy with heavy thundery rain at times, the report added; warning of thundery rain and strong wind with high sea.Wind inshore will be mainly northeasterly - northwesterly at a speed of 20 to 30 KT, gusting to 40 KT with thunder rain.Offshore, it will be northeasterly - southeasterly at a speed of 22 to 32 KT, gusting to 40 KT with thundery rain, and shifts to northwesterly by evening.Visibility inshore and offshore will be 3 - 6 km/1 km or less at places at times.Sea state inshore will be 3 - 5 ft. Offshore, it will 8 - 11 ft, rising to 14 ft with thundery rain.

Dubai's major international airport began diverting all incoming flights yesterday as heavy rains lashed the city, causing widespread flooding.The air hub, which had been expecting more than 100 flights Tuesday evening, earlier briefly halted its operations in the chaos caused by the storm.Dubai has been paralysed by the torrential rain that caused floods around the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and left 18 dead in Oman on Sunday and Monday."Due to the continued exceptional weather event currently being experienced in the UAE, Dubai International is temporarily diverting inbound flights due to arrive this evening... until the inclement situation improves," a Dubai Airports spokesperson said.Departures will continue, said the spokesperson, who earlier warned that roads around the airport have suffered major flooding and urged passengers to use public transport.Unconfirmed images on social media showed planes taxiing across an apron flooded with standing water.Similar scenes were repeated across Dubai and elsewhere in the UAE.Flagship shopping centres Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates both suffered flooding and water was ankle-deep in at least one Dubai Metro station, according to images posted on social media.Roads and residential communities also suffered heavy flooding and many residents reported leaks from roofs, doors and windows.Schools were shut across the UAE and were expected to remain closed Wednesday, when further storms are forecast. Dubai's government also extended remote working for its employees into Wednesday.The Asian Champions League football semi-final between the UAE's Al Ain and Saudi side Al Hilal, due to be hosted in Al Ain, was postponed for 24 hours because of the weather.Some inland areas of the UAE recorded more than 80mm of rain over 24 hours, approaching the annual average of about 100mm.The weather board "urged residents to take all the precautions... and to stay away from areas of flooding and water accumulation" in a post on X.Bahrain was also hit by heavy rain and flooding after being pummelled by thunder and lightning overnight.The storms descended on the UAE, Bahrain and areas of Qatar after passing over Oman, where they caused deadly floods and left dozens stranded.A child's body was recovered on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 18 with two people missing, emergency authorities told the official Oman News Agency.Nine schoolchildren and three adults died when their vehicles were swept away in flash floods, the news agency reported on Sunday.