The University of Reading has denied its 'cloud-seeding' technology caused the devastating floods in the United Arab Emirates.
Earlier this week, Dubai travel authorities urged travellers to stay away from the airport after more than a year and a half's worth of rain battered the desert city in just one day.
Horrendous floods swamped the typically scorching UAE,forcing dozens of flights to be cancelled as travellers crammed into the concourse to shelter from the torrential downpour.
Ahmed Habib, a meteorologist at the UAE's National Centre for Meteorology (NCM),told Bloomberg several cloud-seeding sorties were flown in the days beforethe unprecedented rainfall hit.
However, Reading University has said thateven if cloud seeding had been carried out in the days running up to the storm, it could not have caused such extreme flooding.
Professor Maarten Ambaum, a meteorologist at Reading, saidoperational seeding 'would not have been able to influence this particular weather system'
Cars were filled with water, forcing people to abandon their vehicles
Shocking videos shared on social media showed how cars were filled with water, forcing hundreds of motorists to abandon their vehicles and swim to safety. Some cars were completely submerged, with the top of their roofs barely breaking the water's surface
Meteorology experts at the University of Reading have been working with the UAE in the past few years on a projectto electrically charge clouds and produce raindrops.
Cloud-seeding is a technique which sees aircraft fire salt flares into clouds to speed up condensation and induce rainfall - to provide its groundwater.
Flight-tracking data analysed by the Associated Press showed one aircraft affiliated with the UAE's cloud-seeding efforts flew around the country on Sunday.
READ MORE: What is cloud seeding? Step-by-step graphic reveals how the weather modification technique works
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However,Professor Maarten Ambaum, a meteorologist at Reading, who works closely with NCM, told the Telegraph: 'The UAE does have an operational cloud seeding programme to enhance the rainfall in this arid part of the world; however, there is no technology in existence that can create or even severely modify this kind of rainfall event.
'Any seeding operation has a fairly short-lived – a few hours at the very most, and small-scale effect.
'So even if they had had some operational seeding activities in the days before, then they would not have been able to influence this particular weather system.'
Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading, also said: 'The UAE does do operational cloud seeding, but there is huge difference between what this can achieve – targeting individual, developing clouds with seeding material released from an aircraft – and the Dubai rainfall, which was associated with a large weather system advancing across the region.'
His colleague Professor Maarten Ambaum added: 'The UAE does have an operational cloud seeding programme to enhance the rainfall in this arid part of the world, however, there is no technology in existence that can create or even severely modify this kind of rainfall event.'
Since the early 1990s the UAE has been using this controversial technique to increase rainfall by around 15-25 per cent. Shown here is a UAE plane releasing salt flares within a cloud
Cloud seeding works by releasing grains of salt or silver iodide into clouds, these trigger water vapour to condense or freeze into droplets big enough to fall as rain
Two men use an inflatable bed to float above the water as downpour causes heavy flooding in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on April 17, 2024
People wade through submerged streets at flooded area as heavy rains negatively affect daily life in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on April 17, 2024
Not every cloud can be seeded so the UAE'sNational Center of Meteorology maintains a fleet of planes (pictured) that can respond when a suitable cloud is spotted
The planes are loaded with salt flares that can be burned in order to trigger increased rainfall
It is estimated that the UAE flies around 1,000 hours of seeding flights every year, although it is uncertain just how much this actually changes rain patterns
The rains began late on Monday, soaking the sands and roadways of Dubai with some 0.79 inches of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport.
The storms intensified at around 9am local time on Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail onto the overwhelmed city.
By the end of Tuesday, more than 5.59 inches of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours.
READ MORE: Should I cancel my holiday to Dubai? As UAE is lashed by year-and-a-half's rainfall in just 24 hours
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An average year sees 3.73 inches of rain at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel and a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates.
In neighbouring Oman, a sultanate that rests on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, at least 18 people had been killed in heavy rains in recent days, according to a statement on Tuesday from the country's National Committee for Emergency Management.
That includes some 10 schoolchildren swept away in a vehicle with an adult, which saw condolences come into the country from rulers across the region.
Shocking videos shared on social media have showed how cars were filled with water, forcing hundreds of motorists to abandon their vehicles and swim to safety. Some vehicles were completely submerged, with the top of their roofs barely breaking the water's surface.
Some wealthy drivers in luxury motors bragged of 'floating' their way through the carnage - but most saw their vehicles stall as they became stuck in the deluge.
Rainwater also poured into homes, pushing people out of their houses and into the streets to seek shelter in higher structures.
A man walks through floodwater in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, April 17, 2024
The roof of a mall is seen collapsed after being battered by heavy rains
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An incredible time lapse video shared on social media this morning showed how the thunderstorms rolled in and turned the sky black
The city was totally obscured by rainfall, as evidenced by this shot from a balcony
A picture shows a flooded street following heavy rains in Sharjah on April 17, 2024
In this video grab from AFPTV, a man wades through a flooded street in Dubai on April 16, 2024
Cars are stuck on a flooded road after a rainstorm hit Dubai, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2024
The horrendous floods swamped the airport and many of the surrounding roads, forcing dozens of flights to be cancelled as travellers crammed into the concourse to shelter from the torrential downpour.
The country's hereditary rulers offered no overall damage information or injury information for the nation, as some slept in their flooded vehicles on Tuesday night.
But In Ras al-Khaimah, the country's northernmost emirate, police said one 70-year-old man died when his vehicle was swept away by floodwater.
An incredible time lapse video shared on social media this morning showed how the thunderstorms rolled in and the sky became black before the city was obscured by a blanket of rain.
Rain is not common in UAE, but occurs periodically during the cooler winter months. Many roads lack drainage systems for managing floods.
Some residents were told to shelter if they felt in danger or were asked by authorities to do so.
Police and the military were sent out to help evacuate citizens in the hardest-hit province of Ash Sharqiyah North, state media reported.
MailOnline has contacted the University of Reading for comment.
