Global warming news

For the first time in recorded history, the Jais Mountain in the United Arab Emirates was covered in snow.

So rare was the snowfall that a lifelong resident of the area said the local dialect does not even have a word for 'snow,' the UAE daily The National reported.

Sunday's snowfall was only the second time in recorded history that it has snowed in the emirate, with temperatures dropping two degrees below zero as 20 cm (eight inches) of snow accumulated in some places.

A helicopter pilot who flew up to the top of the mountain said: “The sight up there this morning was totally unbelievable, with the snow-capped mountain and the entire area covered with fresh, dazzling white snow.”

“The snowfall started at 3 p.m. Friday, and heavy snowing began at 8 p.m. and continued till midnight, covering the entire area in a thick blanket of snow. Much of the snow was still there even when we flew back from the mountain this afternoon. It is still freezing cold up there and there are chances that it might snow again tonight,” Major Saeed Rashid al-Yamahi was quoted by local press as saying.