When does summer actually end in the UAE? It’s the question we’re all asking right now

Dubai: Every year around this time, UAE residents start asking the same question.

Not “How hot is it today?” We already know the answer.

It’s: “When is summer actually going to end?”

The weather app gets checked more often than our social media feeds. One day it promises 34°C. The next it’s 40°C. Some evenings it even suggests it’s “pleasant” outside.

Then you open the front door and immediately realise… the weather app and reality aren’t always on speaking terms.

So, when does summer really end? Not according to the calendar. According to life in the UAE.

The calendar says one thing…

Officially, summer comes to an end around September 23.

But anyone who’s spent a few years in the Emirates knows that’s just a technicality.

Because while autumn may begin on paper, it can still feel very much like peak summer outside.

For many residents, summer isn’t over until they no longer have to plan their entire day around air conditioning.

When the walk from the car to the office stops feeling like an endurance sport.

When your sunglasses don’t fog up the second you step outside.

When you stop checking the “Feels Like” temperature before making plans.

So… when do you actually start wearing your hoodies?

This might just be the UAE’s most reliable weather indicator.

Forget the forecast. Forget the weather app (which, let’s be honest, doesn’t always feel true).

The real question is: When can you wear your favorite hoodie outdoors without immediately taking it off?

Not inside the cinema. Not in the mall. Outside. For real.

Every year, many of us get a little too excited after one cooler evening. We pull on a hoodie, convinced the weather has finally changed.

Five minutes later, it’s hanging over our arm again.

But eventually, sometime during October and more noticeably in November, that day arrives.

You leave the house after sunset wearing a hoodie… and you never take it off.

That’s when you know.

The return of outdoor season

As the evenings cool, life slowly begins moving back outdoors. Restaurants reopen their terraces. Parks become busy again. Beach walks return.

Outdoor winter events begin filling up with families, friends and tourists making the most of the weather.

Suddenly, everyone wants to sit outside instead of next to the nearest air-conditioning vent.

Desert season is almost here

For many UAE residents, the true sign that summer is over isn’t the temperature, it’s the plans.

By the end of November and into early December, WhatsApp group chats are filled with one familiar message:

“Who’s coming to the desert?”

Camping gear comes out of storage. Barbecue grills are dusted off. Friends and families head to the dunes for late night trips, bonfires and long evenings under the stars.

It’s also when the annual Liwa season officially gets underway, drawing visitors to the edge of the Empty Quarter for camping, off-road adventures and one of the country’s favorite winter traditions.

And of course, no desert trip, or winter evening, for that matter, is complete without a hot cup of karak in hand.

The countdown is on

Until then, we’ll keep doing what UAE residents do every summer.

Refreshing the weather app.

Celebrating every one-degree drop in temperature.

Telling ourselves, “Tonight definitely feels cooler.”

And waiting for that one evening when stepping outside no longer feels like opening an oven door.

Because summer in the UAE doesn’t really end when the calendar says it does.

It ends when hoodies replace linen shirts, desert trips return to the weekend plans, karak somehow tastes even better, and being outdoors becomes the best part of the day again.