Longest day of the year brings heat

Longest day of the year brings heat Staff Reporter / 21 June 2013 As the longest day of the year hit, the mercury is set to keep rising. Friday marked the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, which is the longest day of the year, bringing with it high temperatures, humidity and a spot of rain in the UAE also. A National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology spokesman said Friday’s highest temperature was 45.2 degree Celsius in the Hamim area, in the south of the country — more than twice the temperature atop the country’s highest mountain Jebel Jais, which racked up just 20.3 degree Celsius. “The difference between the interior and coastal areas is a big (one). The interior areas are mostly above 40 but in the coastal areas and islands, it’s about 33, 34, 35, something like this.” Abu Dhabi recorded 37.9 degree Celsius at the airport, near the interior, but along the Capital’s corniche temperatures only reached 32.9 degree Celsius. “It was a hot day in general, 44 or 45. The humidity is high so the feeling is a lot hotter, it makes it feel for or five degrees hotter,” he said. The high humidity that formed convective clouds also accounted for moderate to heavy rain in the east of Al Shiwed. “There’s a chance tomorrow for some cloud formation in the east of the UAE after noon.” The north of the country, in Zafar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s Al Minhad were all plagued with fog on Friday morning too. Residents should brace themselves for rising temperatures. In the next two months, the mercury would hit up to 50 degree Celsius, he said. “The heat is coming.” In other, cooler parts of the world, the solstice was celebrated, with more than 20,000 celebrants gathering at the famed Stonehenge monument on a cloudy English day. In New York, free mass yoga lessons took place in Manhattan’s Times Square for the 11th year running. The annual event had grown from just three people in the first year, to more than 15,000. amanda@khaleejtimes.com Taylor Scott International