Spinning in the rain

Dubaians have very different ways of dealing with the rain. Today's example of flash floods, hail stones and cartoonish bolts of lightning provoked panic among the uninitiated masses. Drivers who are normally reluctant to use any kind of signals, sent their indicators, headlights, fog lights and hazard lights into overdrive; as a result, the Sheikh Zayed road had more flashing lights than a cheap Blackpool disco.

While the beach road was relatively calm, the highway had more than a touch of War of the Worlds about it, with cars skidding everywhere and debris flying. Dodging the traffic cone missiles, i was thankful that the real horror of WotW (a slightly possessed Tom Cruise) wasn't leering out from behind a car. On arrival at work, one sentence from Mercy brought the day back to earth: "Oh, this is nothing - back home in Scotland, this is like a summer's day."