Weather tracker: southern Arabian peninsula braced for storms

Elongated area of low pressure likely to bring higher-than-usual levels of rainfall to normally arid region

Unusual levels of rainfall are due to hit the southern Arabian peninsula this week, as a tropical wave - an elongated area of low pressure - progresses across the region, triggering a marked increase in convective activity across western Yemen and south-western Saudi Arabia this week. There is a risk of thunderstorms until Wednesday, with forecast rainfall totals reaching about 50mm for Al Hudaydah region in Yemen and the Jazan province of Saudi Arabia.

Although 50mm is not a particularly large rainfall total in most places, in this region it is enormous: Al Hudaydah typically records only 65mm annually, while Jazan averages about 150mm.