What's the Weather Like?

Make it stop!!!

It's a standard joke that Brits are obsessed with the weather. In a country known for its grey, overcast days, it becomes a fallback conversation starter, but also a very real logistical challenge. What, precisely, does one wear on a British summer' day, which could run the full gamut of drizzle, sunshine, wind, rain? But mainly rain.

I'll let you into a secret. Even though I live in a country with blue sky and sunshine 360 days of the year, we are also obsessed with the weather. We talk about it ALL the time. This builds into a frenzy in August, when it feels like the Summer is never going to end.

How hot is it? How humid is it? Is it hotter or cooler than last year? Will the Summer ever end? Is a sandstorm on its way? And most thrilling of all: IS IT RAINING WHERE YOU ARE?!

I'm currently in a frenzy as the humidity has dropped in the past week. This means that although it's so hot (49 degrees today!) you feel like your eye balls are peeling away from your lids, it's somehow more bearable than being drenched with water 30 seconds after leaving the house.

Mid August is a real test. For those of us who've stayed through Ramadan and most of the hottest months of the year, you start to feel like the Summer is going to last until December. Any tiny dip in temperature is embraced, discussed and regarded as a tiny chink of hope in the heat quagmire.

We're now casually throwing around the phrase: "Just one more month to go!" Which, sadly, is a total lie. It doesn't cool down until November. So that'll be another two months. Two months two weeks, really. Oh lord.

Just one more month to go!

Good Morning Dubai!

The view from our terrace at 7 am. Beautiful, non?

When I first arrived in Dubai I gleefully blogged about my daily routine. I was so giddy to be here, waking up to blue sky and sunshine every day. Many people told me that this novelty would wear off, that I would take it for granted. 

I'd just like to set this record straight: after six years in the UAE, this joy has not abated. If anything, I'm even more grateful and thankful for my life here than I was back then.

So how has my routine changed? 

Well, some things are different: In the morning there's a beautiful peachy-headed baby to snuggle before getting dressed. There's a garden and a terrace to sit on with the morning coffee. There's palm trees wafting and birds singing and butterflies fluttering by (a by-product of the garden). There's a smiley, friendly little Indian man at our front gate sweeping the street with a palm tree leaf (I just love this).

And some things are the same: the wall of warmth and sunshine that envelops me as I walk out onto the street. The taxi that I hail, the numerous 'Hello's' to the army of people cleaning, polishing and generally making sure that our lives run like clockwork. 

It's always a beautiful start to the day and I am eternally grateful to the Universe for these blessings. 

We have about 3 weeks before the mercury climbs to 40 degrees at 8 am - remind me of this positivity then, yes?!

Garden Joy!

Best money we ever spent. Note: the sea is not in our back garden.
Just the sofa.

Before we moved to the villa, I have to confess, my interest in anything garden related was minimal. Back in Manchester my balcony gardening resulted in a number of (non-intended) deaths, resulting in the purchase of some beautiful and expensive artificial plants. They looked just like the real thing, required no watering or upkeep and could survive the hideous Manchester weather.

I did try a few plants on various Dubai balconies, but despite my dear dad being a landscape gardener by trade, I lacked any real skills or enthusiasm.

Fast forward to villa living and it's a whole different ball game.

We're blessed with a front and back garden, the latter of which has proved a revelation. I have to admit, when we were pricing up the villa, I wasn't sure at all about the extra work/water/dirhams (monthly bills of 500 GBP, anyone?!) involved in keeping a garden, but oh! How we love it now.

I've never been a morning person, so after dragging myself out of bed for work on my hands and knees each morning it's a beautiful treat to stagger to the back terrace with a coffee and Molly the Cat to contemplate the world before the melee of corporate life. There's a 99.9% chance of blue sky, sunshine, and sometimes little fluffy clouds. At this time of year there's a cool breeze, the birds are singing, butterflies waft past (no, really) and the whole thing feels a bit like a Disney movie. It's an absolute treat.

Fast forward 14 hours and it's still a treat. Darkness has fallen, the stars have come out, there's the same cool breeze, mingling with the call to prayer from the mosque next door.  Our huge garden lounger comes into its own, and there's something so soothing about lounging on it, glass of Sauv Blanc, or fizz (depending on severity of the day) either reading a book, chinwagging with DH, or sometimes (the treat!!!) catching up on UK TV on the ipad.

In a month the sweltering Dubai heat will rule the garden out of bounds until October, but just for now, we're eking each and every minute from it.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Every time I look at the UK weather my entire body constricts. Enough already - and I don't even live there! How are you coping, UK chums? It's even snowed in little old Jersey - first time in 20 years! 

If it helps you at al, you'll be glad to know that it's still FAR too cold in Dubai to even THINK about getting into the pool. Or the sea for that mater. I popped a toe into our pool yesterday and recoiled in horror. 

My 'no sea/pool from December - April' rule remains firmly in place. I know you feel sorry for me.

Chance of me getting in here this month: minimal.

Youth is Wasted on The.....

Such high hopes...

As a woman who likes to take care of herself, I'm open to anything that will make me look and feel good,with minimum effort. 

Ok, I will put in some effort (Hello, I RUN three times a week! Ok, twice...) but I think all busy women are looking for  a short cut. Throw in the fact that I'm hurtling towards the end of my twenties (ahem!) and I'm sniffing out beauty secrets like a pig that's trotter-deep in truffles.

When I was back in the UK I snapped up the new YSL 'Wonder-Serum'. It was featured on a high-brow TV show (Horizon...Newsnight?) so it really works, dontcha know. I clung to this thought as the Boots sales assistant prised the 68 GBP that it cost from my hand. The verdict: definitely doing something.

For the last 21 days I've also been trialling this stuff, for a magazine here in Dubai. I'm not massively convinced I've seen any changes, although it claims to make you look: "glowing, radiant, and younger." Be sure to point this out, the next time you see me, yes?!

What's The Weather Like?

When I lived in the UK, the weather was a perpetual topic of conversation. I thought that might change once I lived in a country where the sun shines (almost) every day, but no.

Perhaps one of the reasons is that the weather in Dubai isn't EXACTLY the same every day. And us Dubai dwellers have our antannae finely tuned to any nuances or changes, however minimal, that the weather brings. Each morning as I leave the villa my senses are on high alert for humidity, breezes, clouds...

ESPECIALLY as we start heading into September, which, despite being the most humid month of the year, signals that the Winter is approaching...Yay, Winter!

Soon, these temperatures will drop...

 Here are some Dubai weather types which we get excited about:

The Day When It Isn't QUITE as Hot

Even in the height of Summer, when the mercury is hitting 45 and higher, you can suddenly experience a day when it drops a little - which can feel like a lot. This happened on the last day of Ramadan. 

I was visiting a friend and popped out onto her balcony to check out her view. "OOH!!" we exclaimed. "It's BEAUTIFUL OUT HERE!"

I then skipped down the walk at JBR  to meet friends for a drink. It felt positively cool and breezy. It was 36 degrees.

The Day When It's Breezy for No Reason

Sometimes wind is a precursor to a sandstorm (not a treat). Sometimes it's just windy for the sheer wonderfulness of it (complete treat). This can mean the difference between thinking you're going to die when running, and actually managing to limp an extra km or two.

The Day When the Humidity Drops

I love heat. I hate humidity. I hate being drenched two minutes after leaving the house (Not a good look when in a bodycon dress and heading out for dinner. Not a good look any time, to be fair.)

At the moment we're having a few days of low humidity. Granted, your eyeballs feel like they're about to pop out of your head due to the dry air, and your eyelids stick to them (lovely). But I'd take this any day over wet, sticky, slug-like humidity.

The Day When Clouds Appear

Who ever knew that clouds could cause such hysteria?! It's such a pleasant change to look up and see fluffy white things in the sky. And they are fluffy, white, gorgeous things, in the main. Not grey, black or menacing, as in the UK. Love them.

The Day When Two Drops of Rain Fall

Now, THIS is where you will witness real hysteria. And yes, dear readers, I count myself as one of those who becomes CRAZED with excitment at the merest whiff of a raindrop.

When it rains in the UK, there's a good chance it last rained...oh...ten minutes earlier.

When it rains in Dubai, there's a good chance it last rained...360 days earlier.

That's 360 days of dust, sand, humidity, baking, scorching heat, to be washed away.No wonder we get excited!

Now we're into the first week of September, you can almost smell the cooler weather. We're straining towards it like an Olympic athlete at the finishing line. Soon, soon, there will be outdoor dinners, terrace drinks, Fridays in the park. So much Winter joy to come...

Weather Watch

Ok,in general: It's good.

I did think that once I left the UK, the British obsession with all things weather related might leave me. I was wrong. We’re all just as obsessed here in Dubai. You might think that this is impossible given that for 360 days of the year blue skies and sunshine are usually on the cards. 

But I think you’ll find there’s actually quite a lot to talk about, especially during the seasonal changes. We discuss such topics as:

• Is it getting warmer out there?
• How warm is it exactly?
• Is it humid?
• How humid is it exactly?
• Is that a cloud?
• Is that a sandstorm?
• Is it warm enough for a bikini?
• Have you been in the sea this week? 

 

If you ask this question in the office a frantic debate will ensure with everyone giving a different opinion. There are some (moi) who sunbathe throughout the summer but find the winter too cold. Some who wakeboard the whole way through winter (AJ) but others who will not put even a toe in the sea between November-April (moi).

Today’s debate: how did it get so hot, so quickly? Last year I was still walking to work in the first week of May. Today it was a balmy 33 degrees when I left the house at 8.30. I’m not ready for Winter to be over, I’m just not. 

Last year the World Cup was hit by a freakish sandstorm and temperatures plummeted afterwards, so there is still hope that we could stretch outdoor living just a little further. Let’s see.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Rare, but can happen!

I can’t let this week pass without mentioning the weather. We’re in the grip of a cold snap here. When I say cold, I mean 16 degrees….yes I KNOW that 16 degrees is positively balmy in the UK, but after four years in the heat, it’s absolutely Baltic to me!  AND it snowed in Ras Al Khaimah last night - ridic!

When I first arrived here I used to view grey, windy weather with suspicion, nay terror. Years of living in Manchester had conditioned me to expect hideous weather to set in for weeks or even months, so at the merest glimpse of a cloud here I descended into an emotional slump. I couldn’t understand why my fellow Dubai-dwellers leapt out of their seats with excitement at the merest sniff of a drop of rain. I may have even sneered when this happened.

Fast forward four years and I’m one of them: the hysterically excited people who LOVE a bit of wind and grey sky. Living on the 28^th floor also gives me an amazing view as clouds roll in from the sea or the marina. 

Never fear, I have no desire to live anywhere where this is a perpetual weather situation. I’m strictly a temporary cold weather girl. And as all too soon we’ll see the temperature gauge ticking up up and away, I’m enjoying this whilst it lasts (apparently 3 days, fact fans).

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Me, by January?!

I never really believed people who said ‘oh you acclimatize to the heat in Dubai’ when I first arrived here, sweating and puffing my way through 50 degree days on a sun lounger. I clearly remember one miserable day in Doha where we got caught outside whilst waiting for our driver in the height of summer.  I actually thought that my eyelids would stick to my eyeballs and they’d pop out cartoon style, such was the dry, brutal sunshine. 

Yet I have definitely noticed a change.  When my parents visited in May they really struggled with outdoor eating, whereas I sailed through it.  I even had dinner on a terrace in late July this year, when the mercury was hitting 40. (I’m not saying I looked attractive during this process, but I did handle it without a grumble.)

And as I head into my fourth winter, I’ve noticed that this works both ways.  I’m cold.  All the time.  And it’s not AC induced.  At the beach last week I sashayed down to the sea only to be faced with Baltic water. I was forced in up to my waist but let me tell you, that won’t be happening again until at least June next year.  Hideous.

My latest purchase: a pair of fur lined Uggs.  I originally intended to wear them round the house as slippers but recently I’ve been sporting them during trips to the park (freezing when the sun goes down) and during cinema visits.  I’m drawing the line at a wooly hat, scarf and gloves, but I did eye up a pair of fur-lined ear muffs in the mall the other day.  What next, an electric blanket? Hmmm, now you mention it….