UAE: This Summer going to be Roasting!Seven Days

Dubai, Feb 16: Grab your parasols and stock up on sun cream - this summer’s going to be roasting. Ok, tell us something we don’t know.

But while we’re all aware that summers here are extremely hot, according to a UAE forecaster, this one coming will see temperatures up to four degrees hotter than last year.

With a maximum temperature of 49.7 degrees recorded in the country last summer that could mean a potentially sweltering 53.7 degrees.

Waqar Khan, meteorologist at the UAE Meteorology Department, said his prediction is based on the daily monitoring of weather, weather phenomenon and increasing information on global warming. “I expect the temperatures across the country to rise by two to four degrees this summer,” he predicted. “It is likely to be very hot, particularly in the western area over the desert.”

Khan said temperatures across the whole world are likely to rise by one or two degrees but he expects the UAE to be hotter because of its desert location. “We are monitoring the weather charts and issuing forecasts for all media based on this,” he said. Yesterday, Dubai residents laughed incredulously at the prospect of an even hotter summer than the last.

British ex-pat Ben, who’s been in Dubai for two years, said: “I can’t even imagine what that’s going to be like. Then again, it’s already so hot I don’t tend to go outside much anyway so it probably won’t make that much difference to me.” Office worker Sam added: “In the UK we spend months hiding from the cold and rain, in Dubai we hide from the sun. I’ll just use the opportunity to learn to ski.”

For those labourers who work outdoors during the summer months though, the news is unlikely to be greeted as light-heartedly. Scorching heat last summer led to the Ministry of Labour issuing a compulsory midday break in July and August between 12.30pm and 3pm to protect workers from the risk of heat exhaustion - something they’re likely to ensure is enforced if temperatures rise as predicted.

January this year has already been labelled the world’s hottest January on record by scientists, and this week it snowed in Kathmandu for the first time in six years. A recent UN report blamed human activity for global warming and climate change and predicted a rise in natural disasters. Last night the Dubai Met Office were unable to comment on the weather for this summer saying they are only able to sensibly make five-day predictions.