UAE weather: Here’s when temperatures will start to drop

The 40-degree days haven’t disappeared just yet, but the first hints of better UAE weather are already starting to show

You can almost feel it coming. The mornings are changing, the sun is setting a little earlier and we’re getting closer to that time of year when life starts moving outdoors again. So, when will the UAE weather actually cool down? Here’s what the next few weeks are looking like.

Autumn officially starts this week

Astronomical autumn begins in the UAE at 4.05am on Wednesday, September 23, when the sun crosses the equator and begins its apparent movement south. From here, the nights gradually get longer as we move closer to winter. Meteorologically, though, autumn is already here. September 1 marks the start of the season on the meteorological calendar, which divides the year according to typical temperature patterns. And September is usually when the UAE starts to move away from the peak summer heat.

So, when does it actually get cooler?

This is probably the bit you came for. According to Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Emirates Astronomy Society, average temperatures at the beginning of autumn sit at around 39°C during the day and 26°C at night. By early November, that drops to around 31°C and 18°C, before reaching roughly 25°C during the day and 13°C at night around the winter solstice on December 22. The change happens gradually rather than overnight. Temperatures generally continue to fall through October, and by around the middle of the month, those cooler early mornings should start becoming much easier to notice.

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Foggy mornings are part of the change

Those hazy early starts are another sign that the season is moving on. Humidity typically rises during the first half of autumn, creating the right conditions for fog and dew to form overnight and into the early morning. There’s a traditional marker for this part of the year too. Al Safri, regarded in traditional Gulf seasonal reckoning as the first period of autumn, began on September 6 and runs until October 15. The early part can still feel hot and humid, with cooler conditions becoming more noticeable as we move towards mid-October.

Mid-October is one to watch

If you’re waiting for the kind of weather that makes you want to stay outside, mid-October is when things start getting more interesting. Winter clouds typically begin appearing around this point, while the chances of rain increase during the second half of autumn. Northerly winds also become more active as the season changes. It’s around this time that cooler mornings and evenings become more noticeable too – which means those first outdoor dinners, desert trips and barbecue plans aren’t too far away.

And we could see more rain this year

There’s another weather story to keep an eye on. The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) says the current El Niño is particularly strong, with the UAE among the regions expected to see above-average rainfall. However, its effect on the country is indirect, and that doesn’t mean every rainy spell will be unusually heavy. The NCM says conditions are being monitored and any significant weather systems affecting the UAE will be communicated through its official channels.

The sky is changing too

The seasonal shift isn’t only happening at ground level. Around dawn, Gemini, Taurus and Leo become prominent in the eastern sky, alongside Sirius, Canopus and the Pleiades – stars traditionally associated with this point in the seasonal calendar. Autumn also marks an important growing period across the Arabian Peninsula, as cooler ground conditions make the first half of the season a key time for planting seedlings and sowing seeds.

The short answer? Give it a few more weeks

There isn’t one morning when we wake up and summer is suddenly gone. September starts the transition, October is when we should begin to feel a more obvious difference, and by November, average temperatures are significantly lower. So yes, we still have a little way to go. But cooler mornings, longer nights and the first proper evenings outside are getting closer.

Image: Archive

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