Residents reach for the shade as temperature soars to new high

Al Ain/Dubai: The UAE sizzled yesterday as the mercury soared to its highest level so far this year and today is expected to be almost as hot.

Temperatures rose to a baking 46C in Dubai, close to the record for June, leaving those who ventured outside drenched with sweat and looking for shade.

Weathermen warned that although temperatures might not climb a lot higher this summer, it will become much more humid.

Phil Targett, duty forecaster at Dubai International Airport, said temperatures were particularly high yesterday because cooling sea breezes started slightly later.

"The sea breezes started an hour later than usual. That's a fairly trivial change, but in a climate like this, it makes a big difference.

"In a cooler climate, that amount of difference would have no effect on the temperature at all," he said.

The minimum temperature yesterday was 28.5C.

Maximum humidity in Dubai was 88 per cent, but since this was reached when temperatures were at their lowest, the figure gives little indication of what conditions were like during the hottest part of the day. Minimum humidity was seven per cent.

Targett added that in the weeks to come, humidity will increase and so going outside is likely to become more uncomfortable.

"The typical pattern is that in the early period of summer the temperature goes up, but the humidity hasn't reached the levels of later in the season," he said.

The sea surface temperature will increase as summer continues, leading to more evaporation, and so the sea breezes will push the humidity higher," he said.

Yesterday's highest temperature of 46C compares with the all-time June maximum temperature of 47.3C.

In Dubai, the maximum temperature today is expected to be about 44C, while 29C is forecast as the minimum.

The weather was also a talking point yesterday in Al Ain, which suffered thick black clouds and dusty winds.

A senior meteorologist at the UAE Meteorological Authority said hot, dry and hazy conditions would dominate over the country in the coming 48 hours.

The prediction is that "towering clouds" will appear on the horizon in the afternoon and evening in the eastern areas.