Forecasters in the UAE are monitoring a powerful storm that has developed in the Arabian Gulf.
The tropical depression was churning close to India on Friday but is expected to move sharply westwards over the next few days.
The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) cautioned the UAE would not be directly impacted in the next three days. But it underlined forecasters would closely track the powerful depression as it moves towards the Arabian Peninsula.
According to several storm tracking predictions, the storm is set to hit Oman by Tuesday. Current projections show the area south of Muscat most heavily affected.
The storm was whipping up winds close to 50kph on Friday accompanied by intense rain clouds, the NCM said.
It expected the depression to become a tropical storm within days as winds reach speeds of more than 100kph.
Most storms of this nature do not directly hit the UAE but in 2006 Cyclone Gonu hit parts of the east coast. Hundreds were forced to leave their homes as rain deluged Fujairah.
The tail end of Cyclone Phet also churned up the coast of Fujairah in 2010, with surfers taking to the seas around Snoopy Island to take advantage of the rare conditions.
