Cold snap forces school closures in Saudi Arabia

Wintry weather in Saudi Arabia has led to the closure of some schools in the Hail province, local media have reported.

Arab News said that ten cities in the kingdom had registered temperatures below zero on Sunday, with Saudi Arabia’s meteorological office forecasting that the cold snap would continue.

The coldest city was Hail, in northern central Saudi Arabia, which saw temperatures drop to -6.

Taif recorded a temperature of -5, while Arar saw a temperature of -3.

Temperatures also fell below freezing in Riyadh, which recorded a temperature of -1 on Sunday at 6am.

The newspaper said that schools had been closed by the government in “some regions, including Hail”.

Education Minister Ahmad Al Essa cancelled morning assemblies until the end of the week.


Meanwhile, Kuwait’s education ministry has given school directors the authority to cancel classes due to extremely cold weather.

Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Bader Al-Essa already had given authority to cancel outdoor assemblies, Kuwait Times reported.

The minister did not stipulate what constituted “extremely cold” weather.

The daytime temperature rarely dips below double-digits in Kuwait. Maximum temperatures are this week forecast for the high teens, with pre-sunrise temperatures between 2-10 degrees Celsius in different parts of the country.