UAE weather: Humidity to remain high

High temperatures and sticky weather are expected to remain in the coming days, with the mercury rising above 40°C.

ABU DHABI // Temperatures, already reaching more than 39°C, are expected to gradually increase over the next few days.

Forecasters at the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology said that temperatures are expected to increase by up to 2°C over the next few days.

Humidity is also expected to remain high across the country.

“Humidity is the highest at night and in the early morning,” said a spokesman at the centre. “When the temperature cools down at night and the direction of the wind comes from the sea, it brings water vapour over the land and this causes humidity.”

Humidity in Dubai was recorded at 90 per cent and 84 per cent in Abu Dhabi.

“These are normal numbers for this time of the year,” he said. “Humidity depends on the direction of the wind, so if it’s continuous from the sea to the land, towards the interior part of the country, the humidity will increase in the interior. But if the wind speed is fast, the relative humidity will decrease.”

The last few days the wind has come from the sea, which explains some of the high figures across the country.

“There are areas where the humidity is higher,” said the spokesman. “Like in Razeen, in the southeast of Abu Dhabi in the desert where it is 99 per cent, as well as Al Khazna, between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, and Maleha, in the northern part of the country, next to Sharjah.”

He said high rates of humidity lasted for only a few hours before dropping down to about 32 per cent during the day. “If humidity increases in the daytime, people will feel the heat much more.”