A rare hailstorm worries scientists

he’s one One of the hottest desert countries from the planet. Until now Kuwait It was a rare sight hailstorm Which made the residents rejoice on Wednesday. “We have not seen such a large amount of cold in the winter for 15 years,” former director of the Meteorological Department in Kuwait, Muhammad Karam, told AFP.

Hail fell on Wednesday, but also on Tuesday in Umm al-Hayman, about 50 km south of the capital. Children put on warm clothes to catch the cold, while netizens flooded social media with photos and videos of roads partially covered in hail.

The weather services said up to 63 mm of rain fell in some areas, saying the weather was expected to improve from Wednesday. Although hailstorms are “rare” in Kuwait, they may increase in the coming years due to Climate change The world warns Muhammad Karam.

Scientists say the oil-rich Gulf country experiences sweltering summers, and risks becoming uninhabitable at certain times of the year as the planet warms. In 2016, the Mercury registered there world record, at 54 °C. In some parts of the country, temperatures could rise 4.5 degrees above historical averages between 2071 and 2100, according to the Environment Public Authority.