On Tuesday, Egypt's General Directorate of Traffic reopened all highways and roads that had been closed down due to a sandstorm that hit Upper Egypt on Monday.

The storm blew northwest from Upper Egypt and affected visibility, but did not reach Cairo.

Most severely affected was Egypt's El-Wadi El-Gedid south-western governorate, which reopened five major highways on Tuesday, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

According to the governorate's traffic directorate, Al-Kharga-Al-Dakhla Road, Al-Kharga-Paris Road, Al-Kharga-Assuit Road, Al-Dakhla- Al-Owainat Road and Al-Dakhla-Al-Farfara Road have all been re-opened to traffic.

The Egyptian Meteorological Authority also warned that Cairo and other governorates would be hit by some rain on Tuesday.

Ahmed Abdel-Aal, the head of the authority, said that temperatures would continue to rise across the country this week, reaching 40 Celcius in Cairo and 43 Celcius in Upper Egypt.

On Tuesday, temperatures registered 37 Celcius in Cairo, 34 in North and South Sinai, and 39 in Upper Egypt.

Matrouh and Alexandria on the Mediterranean enjoyed a milder 29 degrees.

In an interview with Sada El-Balad TV channel, police Major Mohamed El-Sherbiny, supervisor of the operations room at the general directorate of traffic, stated that since rain was expected on Tuesday preparations were underway in cooperation with the Sewage Authority and Civil Protection Authority in case of flooding.

The wave of inclimate weather, which is expected to last until Thursday, will also include higher-than-normal temperatures in most parts of the country.

Egypt's cabinet met on Sunday to set plans to prepare for the predicted unstable weather.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail instructed the heads of all governorates to stay on maximum alert and react rapidly to any emergency situation caused by the expected rain fall.

Last week, heavy rains flooded roads in New Cairo and other parts of the country.