Dubai airport pleads with travellers ‘Don’t come!’ with floods still causing chaos and families including Brits trying to flee trashed luxury resorts – as time-lapse video shows how 18 months’ rain fell in one day

Dubai travel authorities today urged travellers to stay away from the airport after the United Arab Emirates was battered by more than a year and a half’s worth of rain in just a few hours.

The desert city-state yesterday suffered horrendous floods which 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.

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.

Some wealthy drivers in luxury cars 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 …