You think it’s hot now? Try dealing with the summer of 2002…

Dubai summer is officially here. Temperatures are set to reach highs of 48 degrees Celsius this week, and the humidity index is at 90 per cent.

Today, Monday June 17, temperatures are set to peak at 48 degrees in Ajman, while Dubai will see highs of 44 degrees, with the humidity expected to intensify overnight and into tomorrow.

But, it might bring you some comfort to know that this isn’t the hottest the UAE has ever had to deal with. That record is held by the summer of 2002.

So, what was the hottest temperature ever recorded in the UAE? In July 2002, the temperature was recorded at a toasty 52.1 degrees Celsius. Ouch.

It almost got as close in July 2013, when temperatures in the UAE peaked at 51.2 degrees, and again last year, when a steamy 51 degrees was recorded.

Fun fact – Mitribah, in the Northern part of Kuwait currently holds the joint record for the highest-ever recorded temperature on earth at 54 degrees celsius recorded on July 21, 2016. The same temperature was also recorded in Death Valley, California.

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