WATCH: Dubai sky turns green, internet calls it 'indication of impending storm'

As Dubai experienced unprecedented weather events in the last few days, a new video of its sky going green has taken the internet by storm.

The timelapse video shows the sky going hazy green from grey, which some social media users said was an indication of an imminent rainstorm.

The 23-second clip is captioned on social media X by a user as “sky turns green In Dubai! Actual footage from the storm in Dubai today.”

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“Actual footage from the storm in Dubai today. You can see the sky turn GREEN!!!” shared another user.

A third wrote, “Heavy rain in Dubai right now, live footage sky turns green the whole city looks like dusty #Dubai #rain.”

“That's supercell, tornado colour. I've seen it in the deserts of southwestern United States,” said another user.

What causes change in hue?

In a report by the University Of Wisconsin–Madison research meteorologist Scott Bachmeier said, “When blue objects are illuminated with red light, they appear green. Green is significant, but not proof that a tornado is on the way. A green cloud will only occur if the cloud is very deep, which generally only occurs in thunderstorm clouds.”

“Those are the kind of storms that may produce hail and tornadoes,” added the report.

Several flights cancelled in Dubai

Dubai International Airport faced chaos on Tuesday (April 16), as heavy rains caused flash floods that inundated the runway.

Dramatic footage captured a Flydubai Boeing 737 wading through the flash floods, highlighting the severity of the storm. The downpour forced multiple flight cancellations.

Planes arriving at the Dubai airport were also temporarily diverted on Tuesday evening to other locations until weather conditions improved, while the departures continued to operate.

What caused the heavy rainfall?

Experts said that the heavy rainfall in the UAE was likely due to a normal weather system that was exacerbated by climate change. Esraa Alnaqbi, a senior forecaster at the UAE government's National Centre of Meteorology, told the news agency Reuters that a low-pressure system in the upper atmosphere, coupled with low pressure at the surface had acted like a pressure 'squeeze' on the air.

Alnaqabi said that the squeeze, intensified by the contrast between warmer temperatures at ground level and colder temperatures higher up, and created the conditions for the powerful thunderstorm

(With inputs from agencies)