Rare Hail Brings Winter White to Desert Hotspot Kuwait

Children toss handfuls of hail particles picked up off the side of a road after a storm in the Umm al-Haiman district, about 55 kilometers south of Kuwait City, on December 27, 2022. (AFP)

Kuwait, one of the hottest countries on Earth, has been hit by a rare hail storm that delighted children and their parents, with images of the winter white shared widely on social media Wednesday. 

"We have not seen so much hail during the winter season in 15 years," Muhammad Karam, a former director of Kuwait's meteorological department, told AFP.