For two days now, Dubai residents have mainly stayed indoors as their city is hit by missiles and drones – part of an attack launched by Iran across the region in response to the latest massive and ongoing attack against it by US and Israel.

Luxury hotels and its main airport – one of the busiest in the world by passenger traffic – were damaged.

The BBC has spoken to people who live in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as those on holiday, who describe situations far from the usual flow of daily life.

Resident Becky Williams said she saw about 15 missiles “launched from behind my house yesterday”, referring to missiles fired by UAE authorities to intercept incoming Iranian projectiles. “You can hear the interceptions happening in the air.”

But she added that she and her family were remaining calm and trusted the UAE military to defend its airspace, saying she believed it would “all blow over soon”.

Iran’s attacks in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes continued into Sunday.

On the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s luxury man-made archipelago, the five-star Fairmont The Palm hotel was struck by a large explosion.

Debris from an intercepted drone resulted in a “minor fire” on the outer facade of the five-star Burj Al Arab hotel, authorities have said.

Another Dubai resident told the BBC: “What we’ve lived through over the past 24 hours is a fraction of what others have been living through in areas of conflict so it puts things in perspective.”

Meanwhile, Satya Jaganathan’s weekend plans for a hike on Sunday were foiled by the events.

“And here we are, sheltering in place,” she said.

The 35-year-old said her sister’s family and pets had to seek shelter in their apartment because they lived close to the Jebel Ali port, where there was “a lot of debris falling”.

On Saturday, officials said debris from an “aerial interception” caused a fire in a berth at the port, which is the world’s ninth busiest.

“It’s still relatively calm as there are only loud noises every few hours, but it is eerie because this is not the Dubai we are used to,” Jaganathan explained.

Dubai International Airport was also damaged in what authorities have called an “incident”.

Thousands of flights have been grounded to and from the Middle East, in one of the most serious disruptions to global travel since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Judy Trotter was supposed to return to London from her holiday on Saturday, but was told all flights were cancelled when she arrived at the airport.

“I’ve met people who were very upset about their travel plans, there were thousands of people in the airport, I met people who told me they were missing funerals,” she said.

She added a lot of passengers “were in transit, just passing through” and are now stuck.

Trotter was one of around 1,000 stranded passengers sent to stay at a hotel, where they were warned to stay away from the windows.

“There is a lot of glass in the hotel which is worrying,” she said, adding, they have heard “several missiles throughout the day”.

Another British holidaymaker – Kate Fischer from Buckinghamshire – said she and her family are “very frightened.”

On Saturday evening, she and her partner packed “a grab bag” as the children slept, she said, adding that she “doused bathrobes and towels” in water in case they needed to “escape during the night in fire conditions”.

Sunday, she said, was a strange day.

“It’s a very surreal experience being surrounded by everyone trying to enjoy their holiday and trying to entertain their children whilst we can see visible smoke from nearby areas that have been hit by drones or missiles.”

Strictly Come Dancing competitor Vicky Pattison was among those who had to take shelter in Dubai, which is also popular destination for the rich and famous.

Pattison had been enjoying a break with her husband, Ercan Ramada, but their outbound flight to Australia was cancelled.

Writing on her Instagram, the former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here winner said: “We’re thinking of everyone who is feeling unsettled and unsafe right now.”

Airlines are continuing to cancel and divert flights in the Middle East after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran.

Flights in and out of airports in Tel Aviv, Dubai, Doha and other international hubs in the region have been suspended.

The UK Foreign Office is warning British citizens against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Those already there have been advised to shelter.

Iran has launched attacks on the Gulf states as part its retaliation to US and Israeli strikes which began early on Saturday. Long-haul travel is being affected more widely, with Heathrow urging travellers to check with their airlines.

British government officials are understood to be formulating plans to potentially evacuate UK nationals from the Middle East.

But the timings of such a move remain unclear, as much of the airspace in the region remains closed.

Emirates has suspended its operations in and out of Dubai until 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Monday due to airspace closures, while Etihad has suspended flights out of Abu Dhabi until 02:00 local time.

One person has been killed and 11 others injured at airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi since the strikes began. Four of those injuries were among members of staff at Dubai International, the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic.

British Airways has cancelled services to Tel Aviv and Bahrain until Wednesday.

It said services between Heathrow and Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai or Tel Aviv could be affected for several days.

Richard and Hannah from London had been en route to Oman but are now stuck in Bahrain.

“In the early hours of this morning a drone attacked the airport so we can’t reach Oman this evening as planned,” Hannah said on Sunday, describing an “uneasy 24 hours”.

Given the situation in the region could escalate, they are now looking to return home, Richard said.

Virgin Atlantic suspended services between London and Riyadh and Dubai over the weekend.

It has warned that flights to India, Saudi Arabia and the Maldives may take longer due to them being rerouted around the affected region.

It is among a number of airlines across the world that have had to cancel or reroute flights to avoid the closed or restricted airspace.

Airspace over Iran, Israel, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Syria remained closed on Sunday, with partial closures in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Jordanian and Lebanese airspace remains open but there is limited flight activity.

Tracking shows flights between Europe and Asia travelling via Saudi Arabia or the Caucasus.

Emma Belcher and her husband Vic were on their way back to Heathrow from a holiday in the Maldives via Dubai when their connecting flight was cancelled.

“There is absolutely no information about when they might open airspace so we don’t know how long we’ll be here,” she said.

“We were really looking forward to getting home to see the children as we haven’t been away without them before.”

Steve Rudderham and his wife had been on their way to the Maldives to celebrate their wedding anniversary but were stuck in Doha where they had been due to have a stopover.

“As the days go on and the vacation is eroded, we’re looking at plans to just to get back home,” he said.

Qatar Airways said its operations remained temporarily suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace, with a further update to be provided at 09:00 local time on Monday (06:00 GMT).

Qatar’s defence ministry said it had intercepted Iranian missiles after explosions were heard in Doha.

The UAE also said it had intercepted Iranian missiles and drones, while footage appears to show the moment a US facility in Bahrain was hit.

Kuwait said it had been targeted by Iranian missiles and drones. Explosions were heard at Erbil airport in Iraq early on Sunday morning.

The UK Foreign Office is warning “against all travel to Israel and Palestine”, and against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.

British people in those areas have been urged to register their presence with the Foreign Office, with more than 76,000 people having already done so, mostly in the UAE.

For British nationals in Oman, the Foreign Office advises those in Duqm to shelter in place, and those in Salalah to leave as soon as possible if commercial means allow and follow advice from local authorities.

UK nationals in Saudi Arabia have been told to “remain indoors in a secure location”, while those in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and Turkey have been instructed to “remain vigilant” and take shelter if advised to do so.

The Foreign Office has urged people in Pakistan to be careful around protests, demonstrations, rallies and religious gatherings, after deadly pro-Iran protests broke out in several cities. It also instructed staff in the country to restrict their movements.

US President Donald Trump cited a failure to reach an agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear programme and regime change as among the reasons for launching the attack.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Trump on Saturday, having earlier said that British planes were “in the sky” over the Middle East as part of a defensive operation “to protect our people, our interests and our allies”.

Along with the leaders of France and Germany, he urged Iran to refrain from “indiscriminate” strikes.

Additional reporting by Mary Litchfield

The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in the opening wave of joint US-Israeli strikes has pushed the Islamic Republic into its most precarious moment since 1979.

The operation targeted senior military and political leadership in what Washington described as a decisive effort to cripple Iran’s command structure.

By Saturday night, reports about Khamenei’s death were circulating widely, setting off scenes few would have imagined possible just days earlier.

Videos showed pockets of celebration in major Iranian cities. Similar scenes unfolded among large parts of the Iranian diaspora abroad. For many, the elimination of the supreme leader appeared to represent a historic rupture – an opening that years of civil resistance had failed to achieve on its own.

Both the US president and Israel’s prime minister used direct language in their public statements following the strikes. President Donald Trump urged Iranians to seize the opportunity to “take over your government”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed the theme, arguing that regime change is both desirable and attainable.

While the military phase of Operation Epic Fury, as the US have dubbed it, appeared tightly co-ordinated and largely under US control, the political appeal to the Iranian public remains far less predictable.

On Sunday morning, Iranian state television formally confirmed Khamenei’s death, before swiftly announcing the formation of a temporary council of three men to assume executive authority.

Under Iran’s constitution, the selection of a new supreme leader falls to the Assembly of Experts – an 88-member clerical body elected by popular vote for eight-year terms.

However, the electoral process includes a critical limitation.

All candidates for the Assembly must be vetted and approved by the Guardian Council.

That 12-member body is itself deeply intertwined with the leadership structure, six members appointed directly by the supreme leader and six nominated by the judiciary and approved by parliament, with the judiciary chief also appointed by the supreme leader.

In effect, Khamenei has had significant influence over the institution tasked with choosing his successor.

The regime has moved quickly to project continuity and stability.

By invoking constitutional mechanisms and activating the temporary governing arrangement, authorities aim to signal that the system remains intact despite the loss of its apex figure.

Speculation has inevitably turned to possible successors.

It is uncommon in Iran for potential candidates to be publicly identified in advance, and the process takes place behind closed doors.

Within the Assembly of Experts, however, there is understood to be a small committee tasked with reviewing and narrowing down names, potentially presenting a shortlist to the full body once formal proceedings begin.

The sessions are held behind closed doors and voting is not made public, limiting outside scrutiny.

In recent years, there has been speculation that Khamenei’s eldest son, Mojtaba, might be in the running. Yet with several of his father’s most trusted commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly killed in the recent strikes, the internal balance of power may have shifted.

The precedent from June 1989, when Khamenei himself emerged as supreme leader despite not being widely viewed as a frontrunner, is a reminder that the outcome can defy expectations.

The selection process could move quickly, potentially concluding within a matter of days.

Militarily, however, the Islamic Republic has absorbed a severe blow.

Reports indicate that several senior commanders were killed in the initial strikes. Surviving officials remain under threat as aerial operations continue.

The sense of vulnerability is tangible – command centres damaged, leadership decapitated, and decision-making compressed into crisis mode.

Still, Iran has demonstrated an ability to retaliate.

Within the first two days of strikes, Iranian forces launched attacks against US bases in several Arab countries, as well as targets in Israel.

For the first time, missiles struck non-military sites in Dubai and a civilian airport in Kuwait – dramatically widening the conflict’s geographic footprint.

The escalation signals that, despite leadership losses, Iran retains operational capabilities and the will to use them.

The prospect of further regional escalation now hangs over the crisis.

From the point of view of Iran’s leaders, if the conflict widens and its militant groups allies across the Middle East join the fight, Tehran could gain some leverage to press for a ceasefire or at least avoid a total surrender on terms dictated by the US and Israel.

From another perspective, sustained military pressure, combined with renewed large-scale protests, could push the Islamic Republic toward systemic breakdown.

Should elements of the security forces fragment or refuse orders, any formal constitutional transition process may quickly become irrelevant, overtaken by developments on the ground.

The coming days will reveal whether the IRGC and other elements of the country’s coercive apparatus can remain cohesive in the absence of its long-serving supreme leader.

For now, all scenarios remain in play.

The Islamic Republic appears to be holding a weaker hand than it did before the strikes – deprived of its central authority figure, stripped of key commanders, and exposed to continuing military pressure.

Yet, it retains institutional structures, armed forces and a capacity for retaliation that complicate any straightforward path to regime change.

The death of Ali Khamenei has pushed Iran into a volatile and uncertain phase.

What happens next will depend on whether Tehran can maintain internal control under continued air strikes, whether protests gather momentum, and how far the fighting spreads across the region.

The direction of events is likely to become clearer in the coming days, as all sides test their military limits and their political resolve.