Muscat: Residents have started facing the heat due to a constant rise in the mercury for the past couple of days.

The mercury touched 40 degrees Celsius in several parts of Oman on Sunday, according to Public Authority for Civil Aviation, which monitors weather conditions in Oman. 

Officials said that temperatures in places such as Buraimi, Yankul, Rustaq, Sumail and Bahla have already reached 40 degree Celsius on Sunday. “It is also very hot in the desert areas during the day,” an official said. Muscat recorded 36 degrees on Sunday.

In Oman summer normally sets in mid-April and continues until October. Since the hottest months are between June and August the Ministry of Manpower issues directive to all companies, especially construction firms in the country, to stop work at all sites between 12.30pm and 3.30pm during these months.

For the next 24 hours, the weather department predicts, “Mainly clear skies over most of the Sultanate with chances of low clouds along the coastal areas of Dhofar governorate and over Al -Hajar Mountains with chances of isolated rain.”