Bahrain and much of the Gulf is likely to be battered by strong winds and heavy rains over the next few days, say weathermen.

Saudi Arabia, which has already been reeling under heavy rains and flooding over the week, says it is mobilising personnel and resources to meet any emergency after a warning by its weather bureau of severe climatic fluctuations.

It has also been raining heavily in Kuwait and parts of the UAE, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Weathermen have warned of heavy rains and strong winds for the next two days over the eastern, central and western parts of Saudi Arabia, particularly the Eastern Province.

A disaster management centre has been set up in the Mecca governorate that will be supported by 16 support centres, authorities there said.

Contingency plans are also being put in place to close schools and evacuate people from low-lying areas, they said.

The rainfall may last much of the week and weathermen expect rains in the northwestern city of Hail to flood the Al Adeerae valley.

Securitymen had to rescue three university students trapped in floodwaters in Mehr valley, close to Hail University.

They said rainwaters had engulfed a village, 70km west of Hail.

Authorities are monitoring the situation amidst reports that villagers had to seek shelter on the roofs of houses, mosques and mountaintops during the flooding.

The villagers were quoted as saying that it was first time in 40 years that they had seen such a flood.

At least 13 people died in flash floods in Saudi Arabia in May this year when authorities described the rainfall as the heaviest in 25 years.

Weathermen in Bahrain said the unsettled weather is the result of a deep depression moving from the Mediterranean basin towards the Arabian Peninsula and meeting with warm and moist air mass from the Arabian Sea, which will lead to the formation of clouds over the centre of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The kingdom's highest rainfall on record in November was 101.6mm in 1997.-TradeArabia News Service