Port of Nuweiba. Al-Ahram
Authorities opened on Sunday the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road, Cairo-Aswan Desert Road, and Kattamiya-Ain Sokhna Highway following a few hours of closure after the early morning mist over the main roads cleared.
The Ras Ghareb-Hurghada highway along the Red Sea was also re-opened for traffic after hours of closure due to bad weather that forced dozens of vehicles to queue at the entrance to the highway, according to local reports.
Authorities had closed the highway on Saturday after Hurghada was hit by heavy rains, snowfall, claps of thunder, and torrential rain on the first day of the year, forming pools of standing water across the streets of the Red Sea tourist hub.
Many parts of Egypt, including Cairo, were hit by heavy rain, thunderstorms, and a significant drop in temperatures since Thursday.
However, on Sunday, Cairenes ventured out into the streets after being rained-in for most of the weekend and traffic sailed smoothly on the capital's roads and bridges as a warm winter sun pushed temperatures up to 18 degrees celsius.
6 October Bridge on 2 January, 2022. Photo: Momen Sobhi
Navigation in Nuweiba Port and other Red Sea ports also resumed today after they were suspended amid strong winds and high 2-3 metre waves, according to the Red Sea Ports Authority.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) expects cold weather in the Greater Cairo area, Lower Egypt, the northern coast, and northern Upper Egypt on Sunday.
South Sinai and southern Upper Egypt, however, will be experiencing warmer weather.
Expect weather nationwide to be extremely cold during the nighttime and can turn frosty in Central Sinai, the EMA said late on Saturday.
Mild to moderate rain is expected over parts of the northern coast, northern Lower Egypt, as well as Sinai and the northern part of the Red Sea governorate on Sunday.
Parts of southern Lower Egypt, Greater Cairo, and the Suez Canal cities may also experience mild rain, according to the EMA.
Furthermore, on Monday, parts of the northern coast and northern Lower Egypt will see mild to moderate rain.
From Tuesday to Friday, the EMA expects no rainfall nationwide, but says there will be mist on roads leading to and from Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt, the northern coast, the Suez Canal cities, Central Sinai, and northern Upper Egypt from 5am to 8am.
Moreover, several areas in Greater Cairo, Sinai, the Red Sea, Minya, Assiut, and other governorates were covered by dense clouds and hit by moderate to heavy rainfall on Saturday.
Governors have also announced the suspension of classes at schools across Assiut, the Red Sea, Matrouh, and South Sinai’s Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday over bad weather conditions.
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