• Shops in Sweihan. On Sunday, temperatures in the Al Ain town hit 51.8°C, the highest recorded by any community on Earth that day.
    Shops in Sweihan. On Sunday, temperatures in the Al Ain town hit 51.8°C, the highest recorded by any community on Earth that day.
  • 'The National' visited Sweihan when the temperature was a more clement 44°C, but not right for cooking eggs.
    'The National' visited Sweihan when the temperature was a more clement 44°C, but not right for cooking eggs.
  • Shakeel KP, a restaurant owner in Sweihan, says this summer is the hottest he has experienced in 12 years.
    Shakeel KP, a restaurant owner in Sweihan, says this summer is the hottest he has experienced in 12 years.
  • Elhadrami Alhashmi, an Emirati camel trainer and businessman, says Sweihan is hotter than his hometown of Liwa.
    Elhadrami Alhashmi, an Emirati camel trainer and businessman, says Sweihan is hotter than his hometown of Liwa.
  • Thursday's temperatures in Sweihan meant an attempt at frying an egg in the 44°C heat did not deliver the desired effect.
    Thursday's temperatures in Sweihan meant an attempt at frying an egg in the 44°C heat did not deliver the desired effect.
  • Residents of Sweihan say the heat is unbearable.
    Residents of Sweihan say the heat is unbearable.
  • Sweihan's heat melts ice cream in minutes.
    Sweihan's heat melts ice cream in minutes.
  • Residents of Sweihan say they avoid going outdoors during the daytime.
    Residents of Sweihan say they avoid going outdoors during the daytime.
  • Haris Hassan, 50, from Kerala, is the owner of Mega Fun Electronics in Sweihan. He says daytime heat is too much for even a five-minute walk.
    Haris Hassan, 50, from Kerala, is the owner of Mega Fun Electronics in Sweihan. He says daytime heat is too much for even a five-minute walk.
  • Sweihan resident Tareef Otham has cut down on his daily outdoor exercise routine to avoid the heat.
    Sweihan resident Tareef Otham has cut down on his daily outdoor exercise routine to avoid the heat.
  • Abdullah OK, 21, from India, sells fruit and vegetables in Sweihan.
    Abdullah OK, 21, from India, sells fruit and vegetables in Sweihan.
  • Hawa El Hadey, a travel agent who moved from Abu Dhabi city to Sweihan 13 years ago, says the heat is not too bad.
    Hawa El Hadey, a travel agent who moved from Abu Dhabi city to Sweihan 13 years ago, says the heat is not too bad.
  • Syed Ali, 31, from Pakistan works as a maintenance supervisor and has been living in Sweihan for five years.
    Syed Ali, 31, from Pakistan works as a maintenance supervisor and has been living in Sweihan for five years.
  • Muhammad Shafi, 35, from Kerala, has been in Sweihan for six months.
    Muhammad Shafi, 35, from Kerala, has been in Sweihan for six months.
  • Sweihan's long-time residents said last week was perhaps the hottest they have experienced.
    Sweihan's long-time residents said last week was perhaps the hottest they have experienced.
  • Sweihan's long-time residents said last week was perhaps the hottest they have experienced.
    Sweihan's long-time residents said last week was perhaps the hottest they have experienced.

Sweihan in Al Ain at 52°C: what life is like in the 'hottest place on Earth’


Haneen Dajani
  • English
  • Arabic

On Sunday, the temperature at Sweihan in Al Ain reached 51.8°C, the highest on Earth that day.

The city's long-time residents said last week was perhaps the hottest they have known and it felt like an inferno.

The National was in town on Thursday when the temperature was 44°C.

This reporter and a colleague tried to fry an egg on the bonnet of the car, but the heat was not enough to cook it hard.

Eggs need to reach a temperature of 70°C to cook thoroughly.

A pan was placed in direct sunlight for 30 minutes before the egg was introduced.

I felt like I was inside an oven

After cooking for 45 minutes, bubbles came out of the egg.

The weather has not been easy on Sweihan residents, who said stepping outdoors for a few minutes was becoming unbearable.

Walking, biking or driving in the afternoon was extremely difficult.

“It was very hot. I felt like I was inside an oven,” said Tareef Otham, from Syria.

“These days, whenever I drive in the afternoon, the steering wheel burns my hands even though I use the windshield screens when the car is parked.

“I wait for a few minutes for the air conditioning to cool the steering wheel a bit before I start driving.”

The 54-year-old Arabic teacher has been living in Sweihan for 21 years.

“This year it got hotter earlier than usual. And at night it doesn’t get any cooler,” he said.

The heat has forced him to cut down on his daily outdoor exercise routine.

“I’m used to walking for an hour every evening, but since the beginning of June I have cut it down to 30 minutes. I can’t tolerate it,” he said.

Elhadrami Alhashmi, a camel trainer and trader, moved to Sweihan 10 years ago.

"I am originally from Liwa in Al Dhafra," said the 34-year-old.

He said Sweihan feels hotter than Liwa.

Liwa is about 150 kilometres to the south-west of Abu Dhabi city and is home to the Empty Quarter, the largest desert in the Arabian Peninsula.

“The heat this week has become the talk of the town,” Mr Alhashmi said.

“And just as we always record the hottest temperature here in the summer, we also record the coldest winters. It reached zero and below at times,” he said.

“This year, winter was warmer though, and we didn’t get a drop of rain.”

On Sunday, Mr Alhashmi said he did not leave his house.

But Naseeb, from India, walked for a kilometre at 1.30pm on Sunday.

“At some point, I felt it was difficult to breathe. I tried to walk in shade as much as possible,” he said.

Resident Tareef Otham has cut down on his daily outdoor exercise routine to avoid the heat. Haneen Dajani
Resident Tareef Otham has cut down on his daily outdoor exercise routine to avoid the heat. Haneen Dajani

The 25-year-old salesman at an electronics shop in the town’s co-operative society walks to work each day.

“I was only wearing my cap and sunglasses. It was just too hot,” he said.

He has been living in Sweihan for a year.

“I used to work in Oman. Sweihan is hotter than Oman and my hometown Kerala. I prefer to live in a cold place,” he said.

Muhammad Shafi, 35, a waiter in the co-operative society's cafeteria, said he uses an umbrella or puts a box on his head when he walks to work and goes home.

He leaves for work at 1.30pm and returns home after 1am.

“I live five minutes away, but even the short walk is unbearable in this weather,” he said.

“There are no trees or shade to walk under. I carry water with me to survive.”

Shakeel KP, owner of Al Dahrooj restaurant in the town’s public market, said he gets just a few customers during daytime.

The 32-year-old Indian has been in Sweihan for 12 years.

“People try to avoid the heat during the day, so most come at night,” he said.

At about 3pm, he had three customers.

“At night, we get 10 to 15 customers,” he said.

“In June and July it always becomes very hot, and this year it feels even hotter,” he said.

Hawa El Hadey, a travel agent who moved from Abu Dhabi city to Sweihan 13 years ago, thinks the heat is not too bad.

“It is open here, and the heat is slightly more bearable than in busy cities such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ajman,” said the 32-year-old from Sudan.

“Sweihan is very beautiful. It is considered one of the hottest places, but I find it less humid.”

She drives home for lunch at 2pm every day.

“It gets very hot while driving home at that time. The drive is only five minutes, and I reach home before the AC starts cooling the car,” she said.

UAE weather - in pictures

  • A woman shields herself from the sun in Abu Dhabi. All photos taken on June 6, 2021.
    A woman shields herself from the sun in Abu Dhabi. All photos taken on June 6, 2021.
  • Camels graze close to the solar park in Sweihan, where temperatures rose above 50°C. Courtesy: Noor Abu Dhabi
    Camels graze close to the solar park in Sweihan, where temperatures rose above 50°C. Courtesy: Noor Abu Dhabi
  • The Gulf has had a hot start to the summer with temperatures hitting 45C daily in early June. Pawan Singh / The National
    The Gulf has had a hot start to the summer with temperatures hitting 45C daily in early June. Pawan Singh / The National
  • Hazy weather across Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
    Hazy weather across Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
  • Downtown Dubai's skyscrapers obscured by the humid haze. Antonie Robertson / The National
    Downtown Dubai's skyscrapers obscured by the humid haze. Antonie Robertson / The National
The specs

Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder

Power: 220 and 280 horsepower

Torque: 350 and 360Nm

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT 

On sale: now

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When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Akira Back Dubai

Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as,  “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems. 

The biog

Name: Abeer Al Shahi

Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan

Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.

Favourite activities: Bungee jumping

Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

The specs

Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 715bhp

Torque: 900Nm

Price: Dh1,289,376

On sale: now

In The Heights

Directed by: Jon M. Chu

Stars: Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manual Miranda

Rating: ****

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

SERIE A FIXTURES

Saturday Benevento v Atalanta (2pm), Genoa v Bologna (5pm), AC Milan v Torino (7.45pm)

Sunday Roma v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Udinese v Napoli, Hellas Verona v Crotone, Parma v Lazio (2pm), Fiorentina v Cagliari (9pm), Juventus v Sassuolo (11.45pm)

Monday Spezia v Sampdoria (11.45pm)

A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

Left Bank: Art, Passion and Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950

Agnes Poirer, Bloomsbury

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo

Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm

Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: CVT auto

Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km

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FINAL LEADERBOARD

1. Jordan Spieth (USA) 65 69 65 69 - 12-under-par
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T4. Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71 68 69 67 - 5-under
T4. Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 67 73 67 68 - 5-under
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Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen -  £25m: Success

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Power: 630hp
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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Five healthy carbs and how to eat them

Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand

Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat  

Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar

Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices

Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants

Courtesy Roma Megchiani, functional nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique

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Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km

Price: from Dh94,900

On sale: now

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE