Heavy rains have caused flooding in the Gulf and other parts of the Arab world. In Jordan, according to media reports, hundreds of tourists had to be evacuated from the famous rock city of Petra because of flash floods. There were no reports of casualties. The rescue organization White Helmets reported heavy rain in refugee camps in northern Syria.

Rare hail followed rains in Kuwait, which has previously recorded some of the highest temperatures in the world. In Oman in the east of the Arabian Peninsula, schools in the capital Muscat were closed on Wednesday due to the storm.

It had also rained heavily in Saudi Arabia in the past few days. In the city of Mecca, holy to Muslims, cars were partially carried away by masses of water. The country's meteorological authority predicted more rain from Thursday and into the coming week. Flooding could also occur.

Several days of unusually heavy rain with thunderstorms fell in Israel, and even snow fell on Mount Hermon in the north. In the Negev desert in the south of the country, a young man was swept away by a flash flood on Boxing Day and was later recovered unconscious.