Soaring temperatures forecast for upcoming Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia
Pilgrims are advised to prepare for heat stress amid rising temperatures
Cairo: High temperatures are projected for next month’s annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, according to a chief meteorologist.
Ayman Ghulam, the head of the Saudi National Centre of Meteorology, said this year’s Hajj season falls in June, when temperatures and humidity levels are usually high.
He told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV that a recent workshop explored the climate impact on the 2024 Hajj and ways to handle food inside pilgrims’ camps during the season. The hot weather puts pilgrims at risk of heat stress.
“It was necessary to be in touch with the concerned agencies and notify them of the weather forecasts at the holy places so that they can take precautions during this year’s Hajj,” the official added.
More than 2 million Muslims from around the world are expected to attend upcoming Hajj in and around the Saudi holy city of Mecca.
Saudi agencies engaged in preparing for Hajj anticipate record numbers of pilgrims after around 30 million Muslims from inside and outside the kingdom undertook Umrah, or the minor pilgrimage, at the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, in Mecca during the past Islamic sacred month of Ramadan.More than 2 million Muslims from around the world are expected to attend upcoming Hajj in and around the Saudi holy city of Mecca.