A heavy storm raging across the nation since yesterday has resulted in the closing of five ports and may continue until Friday, says the Weather Forecast Authority.

The Authority warned that in the next few days Egypt may witness an increase in the dust storms that began yesterday, and wind-speed will reach 60 km per hour.

The storms are a result of what is known as the “small sun,” storm which usually lasts for three days of sandstorms and cold weather.

An official from the Red Sea Port Authority said that that five of the authority’s ports have closed today due to bad weather and the high speed of northern and western winds. The five ports are Bor El Tawfeek for passengers, El Sokhna, El Adabiya for transport, El Zeytyat for petrol and El Atka for fishing.

Authority officials expect more ports will be closed in the next few days because of the bad weather.

Today the wind-speed reached 60 km per hour over Cairo and El Arish, which is much more than its usual speed of 20 to 25 km, says authority officials.

Mohamed Eissa, the head of the Weather Forecast Authority says that temperatures are expected to rise to 20 degrees tomorrow. However, Friday will see unstable weather again and heavy fog is expected to veil the sky.

Heavy rain is expected to fall on Sinai on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. In Cairo, there will be heavy fog on Thursday and Friday and strong sandstorms on Friday.