It’s getting hot in here

Summer temperatures are definitely here, making the better than average winter in the UAE seem even nicer.

Just in case you haven't noticed, summer has arrived. Of course, nobody in the UAE needs to look at the calendar to know this. Simply stepping outside at midday produces the double-baked effect of frying under the blazing sun and then sizzling again from the heat radiating off the ground. If there's a breeze, it's akin to standing in front of a hair dryer rather than providing a respite.

This is, of course, the flip side to a winter that most rated as one of the better ones. The irony is that the criteria for a good winter in the UAE – cooler than average temperatures with more than usual rain – is the definition of a bad winter for many western expatriates.

For anyone who has not previously experienced summer in the Emirates, the prospect of temperatures already in the 40s at the start of June must leave them traumatised about how hot it might be by August. But old hands also know that the start of summer is when temperatures peak. This is simply physics: as the humidity steadily increases, it takes more energy to heat wet air than dry air.

Ah yes, the humidity. By August, we’ll be harking back to the early days of summer when it was merely hot and dry and not like walking through a sauna. When does winter begin again?