It feels like 62C in Dubai. Why is heat and humidity such a deadly combination?

Kuwait logged the third-highest temperature in the world in June, with 49.3C recorded at the International Airport. Last week, it crept up again to 51C, close to the country’s record 54C. 

Dubai has also been hit by a brutal heatwave. Although the mercury is ‘only’ reaching 43 degrees Celsius, the ‘feels like’ temperature is pushing 62C, according to US-based weather services.

This perilously high figure is due to the combination of intense air temperature and high humidity generating a heat index far hotter than the recorded air temperature. 

The two countries are struggling to cope with the scorching heat and temperatures are nearing the limit above which going outside would be life-threatening. 

On 17 July, Dubai’s ‘feel like’ temperature rose to a brutal 62C. 

This figure is nearing the estimated limit of human heat tolerance. Climatic conditions where high heat and humidity occur at the same time are particularly deadly. 

The so-called wet-bulb temperature takes into account both heat and humidity and a reading of 35C or over is considered fatal for humans if exposed for over six hours.  

When humidity hits 100 per cent, sweat stops evaporating meaning the body cannot cool itself down. If a person is exposed to these conditions for an extended period, it can be lethal. 

Weather services in Dubai are warning that temperatures are nearing the wet-bulb limit after which going outside becomes life-threatening. 

Dubai is prone to these dangerous conditions partly due to its geographical position close to the Tropic of Cancer - making high temperatures inevitable - and its proximity to the Persian Gulf, which brings elevated humidity. 

However, another significant factor is the urban heat island effect - Dubai’s city surfaces