We set off flares on a plane’s wing to affect the weather

  • The UAE only experiences 100mm of rainfall a year
  • Cloudseeding aims to boost this by 30 percent
  • It’s all done at the press of a button

Published on Feb 07, 2025 at 8:30 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones

Last updated on Feb 10, 2025 at 11:56 AM (UTC+4)
Edited by Tom Wood

In a process that sounds like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie, Supercar Blondie presenter, Sergi Galiano went up in a plane in the UAE to to set off flares and make it rain – literally.

Cloud seeding involves releasing salts, namely silver iodide and sodium chloride into the atmosphere.

This helps help moisture in clouds, allowing moisture droplets to grow bigger, and fall as rain.

Flares along the wing go off at the press of a button – hopefully boosting the 100mm of annual rainfall by 30 percent.

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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”