Forecasters: Cold snap in Qatar to continue for a few more days

The recent cold spell that is affecting Qatar is forecast to last through the week, with temperatures in Doha expected to continue falling until Monday, the Meteorology Department (MET) has said.

According to the MET, the lowest temperature this week was recorded this morning in Mesaieed, where it fell to a chilly 5.9C (43F).

🔵 Temperatures continue to fall during the next 48 hours. pic.twitter.com/w9imVINqIJ

— أرصاد قطر (@qatarweather) January 30, 2016

Speaking to Doha News, Steff Gaulter, senior meteorologist at Al Jazeera English said things will start to warm up on Monday, with temperatures slowly climbing from highs in the teens to 22C (72F) from Tuesday onwards.

She added that it will take until Saturday (Feb. 6) for temperatures to get back to highs of 25C (77F) and above.

The cold spell is not unusual for this time of year, as January is the coldest month in Qatar.

But the windy weather and fall in temps has nonetheless seemed to catch some residents by surprise, and stores have doing brisk business in terms of the sale of warm clothes and heaters, according to the Peninsula.

The newspaper added that the cold is appearing to causing more people to fall ill this week.

Here’s Sunday’s forecast: