CAIRO (Updated) - Egyptian authorities closed ten ports on the Red and the Mediterranean seas Saturday due to sandstorms and high waves as rainy weather, accompanied by low temperatures, lashed the northern areas of the country, maritime and meteorological officials said. "Port Tawfik, Adabiya, Zayteya, Sokhna, Ataka, Safaga, Hurghada and Nuweiba on the Red Sea and Alexandria and Dekheila on the Mediterranean were all closed due to the bad sandstorms and bad weather," the officials said. They added that the ports would reopen as soon as the weather improves. Sand storms Saturday hit several cities across the nation, reducing visibility and disrupting travel. Low visibility on the Alexandria-Salloum highway caused several trucks to pull over to the side of the road, slowing down the movement of cargo and passengers from and to Libya, added officials. "Construction work on hotels being built on the northern coast also came to a stop due to sand storms. Several shops closed their doors until the weather improves," a meteorological official said. He added that the Meteorological Authority had warned on Thursday against this bad weather, which is expected to improve tomorrow. Port Said, Damietta and Kafr el-Sheikh were hit by heavy rainfall and sandstorms. The speed of the wind reached 25 knots per hour and the seats waves rose to more than three metres, forcing fishing activities to halt, according to experts. Wahid Seoudi, the Head of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority, expected sandstorms to cover most of Egypt and warned that it might reduce visibility and affect maritime navigation. He added that in the next days there would be a big drop in temperature and a proliferation of rain clouds over Cairo, Sinai, the Red Sea mountains and northern Upper Egypt. In Sinai, main roads were closed as rains were flooding the Peninsula all day. An official at Safaga seaport said all trips to the Dhiba Seaport, to the west of Saudi Arabia, have been postponed. "The high wind speed in the area poses high risk to the safety of vessels," the official said. Ships were prevented from entering the port, while they were then allowed to pass but at lower speeds, according to a source at the Suez Canal Authority.
