Hot in the city: Dubai

The past July was the warmest month ever in Finland. What “warm” means to us Finns is usually over +25C, also known as “helle”, an exceptional heat wave by the local standards. In 2010 there was a staggering new record temperature of +37.2C measured in Joensuu. Boy that’s hot!

There are other definitions to “hot”, which is something I learned during my trip to the United Arab Emirates. July is not among the most favourite months for tourists to visit the area and I don’t blame them. We landed in Dubai on a Sunday morning and tried our best to perform a tour of the city’s main sights before spending the next few days in the office. With the weather forecasts setting the temperature at +45C every day (there weren’t too many live thermometers visible in Dubai), the tour ended up consisting of short hops outside of the air conditioned malls, shops and busses. The summer weather in Dubai can be best described as walking into a hot sauna with your clothes on to check if it’s ready for bathing, with the difference being that you can’t step outside after your done. Anyway, I managed to grab a set of photos where the lens is not all steamed up, so here you go:

My next stop will surely provide a much cooler experience, as we’re going to spend a week in Scotland, driving around the Highlands area. Better remember to pack my umbrella and rain coat, I suppose.