May weather forecast: UAE to see 50°C heat in peak summer

Dubai: It is still officially spring in the UAE, yet stepping outside tells a different story.

The heat feels like summer has already arrived, and this week, temperatures in some parts of the country have climbed to 45°C, levels usually associated with the peak of the season, not the end of April.

That contrast is hard to ignore. Spring is meant to be a transition, a gradual shift into warmer days. Instead, the change this year has felt sudden. 

Climatologically, late April is a transition period. Daytime highs usually hover below extreme summer thresholds, yet recent readings have pushed well beyond seasonal norms.

In some areas, temperatures climbed above 40°C, with peaks reaching 45°C, exceeding the expected average for this time of year by several degrees.

So what does this mean for May, and for the summer ahead?

According to Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Astronomical Society and member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, the current conditions suggest a noticeable but not unprecedented deviation from normal patterns. 

In an interview with Gulf News, Al Jarwan said that temperatures have been rising gradually, but what the UAE is experiencing now is above the expected range for this time of year.

In the final week of April, some areas recorded temperatures reaching 45°C, when they would typically remain below 38°C.

Such fluctuations are not uncommon, he notes, but they can create the impression that summer has arrived earlier than expected, particularly when the rise in temperature intensifies after mid-April. 

Despite this, longer-term expectations suggest a degree of stability ahead. May and June are still likely to fall within their typical ranges, even if the season has begun with an unusually hot start.

As May approaches, the weather is expected to settle into what is considered normal for this time of year. Conditions will remain hot and sunny, with daytime temperatures generally hovering around 38°C to 40°C in coastal areas, while inland regions may gradually climb towards 44°C or 45°C, particularly as the month progresses.

By the end of May, sustained high temperatures and the first consistent heatwaves usually signal the beginning of what many consider the true summer.

This makes the current situation feel less like an anomaly and more like an early preview. May, after all, is traditionally the gateway to summer in the UAE. It brings long days of sunshine, rising humidity, especially along the coast, and warm nights that offer little relief from the heat accumulated during the day.

Yet beyond meteorology, there is another way of understanding the season. For generations, desert communities have followed a different calendar guided by the sky rather than dates.

 According to the Emirates Astronomical Society, the period known as “Ghayoub Al Thuraya,” or the disappearance of the Pleiades, began on April 28. This marks the start of one of the earliest phases of heat and dryness, lasting around forty days.

Traditionally, it signals a time of caution, when physical exertion is reduced and daily life adjusts to the intensifying conditions.

In that sense, summer has already begun, even if officially it will not arrive until June 21. As the season advances, the influence of the Indian monsoon low-pressure system will become more pronounced, pushing hotter and more humid air into the region. 

Temperatures in some areas may approach 50°C later in the season, particularly in southern and western parts of the country, while humidity levels rise and occasional convective clouds bring brief, sometimes intense, rainfall.