Dubai has been dubbed a “ghost town”, with video showing Brits shock at an almost entirely abandoned beach in the city. Footage shared by the Belarusian news outlet, Nexta, appears to show a part of the business and tourist hub almost completely deserted.

The camera pans around the city’s skyscrapers onto a beach below, and yachts are moored at a marina. A person in the background can be heard describing the scene as “pretty dead”. They add: “I can’t lie, there’s literally nobody here. Usually, the beaches are full of people.

“It’s raining, but there’s no one on the beach – literally there’s one person on the beach… [Dubai]’s just a ghost town. It’s crazy actually.”

It has not been possible to independently verify the footage, which was shared by Nexta’s X account at 3.30am on Wednesday (March 11). Images of Dubai taken in recent days also show streets around the city appearing largely deserted.

Before Iran targeted Gulf states in retaliation for joint Israeli-US attacks, Dubai was sold as a beacon of stability in the region, specialising in tourism, business, retail and finance.

Its tax-free, luxury lifestyle and sunny weather attracted hordes of wealthy Brits, including social media influencers and celebrities.

Rio Ferdinand, his wife Kate, pop star Jamelia and Love Island star, Laura Anderson are all said to have homes in Dubai.

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Foreign nationals continue to leave the city and wider region. The Foreign Office said on Tuesday that a second charter flight carrying Brits home took off from Dubai.

Increasing numbers of commercial flights leaving the Gulf have become available in recent days, with 32 landing in the UK on Monday.

Some 45,000 UK nationals are estimated to have left the region since March 1, out of the more than 200,000 thought to be in the Gulf at the start of the war.

The news agency Reuters reported that the Middle East could see an 11% drop in tourists as a result of the war this year and a £25.3billion ($34bn) loss in spending.

Authorities in the city confirmed two Iranian drones struck close to Dubai International Airport today, wounding four people.

Dubai Media Office, which issues statements on behalf of the city-state’s government, said the attack caused minor injuries to two Ghanaian nationals and one Bangladeshi national. An Indian national’s injuries were described as “moderate”.

Attacks on the United Arab Emirates — where Dubai is located — have killed six people and wounded 122 others since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28.

Iran’s joint military command recently announced it would start targeting banks and financial institutions in the Middle East.

Along with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, that threat would put Dubai particularly at risk as it is home to many international financial institutions.