When Egypt freezes over

It’s proper cold in Egypt. Winter is upon us and temperatures suddenly started dropping over the past week.

On Friday, some in Cairo even woke up to snow — a rare sighting for many of the capital’s residents — as temperatures dropped to around 6 degrees.

A flood of pictures hit social media showing blankets of white covering streets, rooftops and cars on the outskirts of the city in the residential developments of Madinaty and Rehab, on the Suez Road and some even in Nasr City.

Maha Salem, a photographer who lives in Madinaty, was delighted to wake up and find her garden covered in snow at around 8 am on Friday, she told Mada Masr. She took a series of pictures of her house and the snow-covered cars that mesmerized Cairo residents circulated on Twitter.

Salem, who is 18 years old, said this is the first time she has ever seen snow. And while her "hands were so cold, it hurt to move them," she couldn't resist taking her nieces down to play in the white powder.

Other areas in Cairo saw hail while in others, heavy rains continued. Meteorology officials say the weather is expected to stay this way through the weekend.

In Sinai’s Saint Catherine, temperatures dropped as low as -8 degrees Celsius and about 20 centimeters of snow covered the city, state media reported.

It's the coldest weather in 122 years, officials on state TV said. So cold that a news presenter on state TV wore her overcoat as she conducted an interview inside the studio.

While many are delighted, Egypt is far from being prepared for this kind of weather. Homes and buildings are not properly heated, sewage systems are easily flooded causing major traffic jams, and citizens’ wardrobes are generally not suited for a winter wonderland.

Heavy rain has drenched Alexandria and other north coastal cities for four days straight, causing flooding on some main roads and traffic jams. Temperatures dropped and wind speeds picked up to between 25-30 knots per hour, leading officials in the governorate to close the main ports for the third day in a row, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported.

North Sinai officials closed the main highway heading to Sharm El-Sheikh due to heavy rain that started on Thursday. The Sharm port has also been closed and all boat trips were canceled to ensure the safety of tourists, the privately-owned Tahrir newspaper reported.  The Ain Sokhna port was also closed.

The Damietta port has been closed for three days and ships have not been allowed to enter due to high and tumultuous waves. Fishing has been brought to a standstill, as was traffic on many roads. Trading activity in the markets has been halted.

On Twitter, users swayed from complaining to joking about the winter weather that suddenly hit the country, where winters come late and temperatures mostly remain mild throughout.

Many joked it was the curse of Friday the 13th.

And as is inevitable with anything current affairs, a link was made between the weather and the political developments in the region.

As one popular blogger and political commentator who tweets under the name @KarlreMarks wrote: “It’s snowing in the desert. I think God is dropping hints that the Arab Spring is over.”

It's safe to assume that many will be staying home this weekend.