Dubai's soaring skyscrapers are more than just an impressive sight.
The shimmering structures also cast welcome shadow which helps create an 'urban canyon cooling' effect which reduces temperatures by as much as 3°C according to a recent study.
Dubai's weather may be cooler than the adjacent desert, but it is by no means perfect, with searing summer temperatures leading residents to reach for the sun block or seek the sanctuary of air-conditioned homes.
So where in the world has an ideal climate?
Here are 10 of the best.
Kunming, China
The weather in Kunming is eternally spring like, giving the city the nickname ‘Spring City’.
The average daily temperature is 15°C in the summer, and a low of 4°C, giving it one of the mildest climates in China.
Without extreme summer heat or frosts, flowers bloom year round.
Even during the winter months, from December to February, it is mild and sunny most of the time, according to the website chinahighlights.com.
It has, however, experience “freak” snowfalls and the temperature has on a handful of occasions reached 30°C.
San Jose, Costa Rica
Located near the equator, the weather in San Jose, Costa Rica, is comfortable and warm year round, with 12 hours on average of sun each day.
The weather across the country varies, with areas close to the Caribbean Sea wet and humid, and those near the Pacific Ocean, dry. But the weather is said to be perfect in the central valley of San Jose, where temperatures average 22°C.
There are two seasons: a wet season where the weather is humid and overcast, and a dry season which is partly cloudy.
It is however consistently warm all year-round.
Madrid, Spain
With short, hot, and dry summers and cold winters, Madrid sees little rainfall, at only 63 days on average annually. It is also very sunny, with around 2,769 hours of sun, which is around four a day in December, and up to more than 11.5 hours a day in July.
This makes it one of the sunniest places in Europe.
Medellin, Colombia
Situated in a mountain region, Medellin is cooler than other cities on the same latitude.
In fact, its temperature is eternally spring-like, typically varying only 10°C year round, between 18°C and 28°C due to its proximity to the equator.
The average temperature is 22 °C. This makes it possible to live there without heating or AC at home. However, a temperature high of 38°C has been recorded.
It has two rainy seasons, where it can rain 21 days out of a month, in April to May and September to November. Showers are, however, usually short.
Auckland, New Zealand
This is another city which benefits from a climate that is comfortable year-round, with no extremes of temperature.
Summers are warm and humid, at an average temperature of 23°C, while winters are mild, averaging 14°C. For that reason, many people have neither heating or AC.
However, the sun can be very strong in the summer.
Rain mainly falls in the winter, between the months of June, July and August.
Auckland is one of the sunniest spots in the country, averaging 2,060 annual sunshine hours.
Oahu, Hawaii, USA
Located 2,390 miles west of San Francisco, Oahu is the third largest island in the Hawaii chain and home to 75 per cent of the state’s population. Temperature varies very little on the island, ranging from 24°C to 32°C year round. And you are not likely to experience much rain, according to Hawaii-guide.com.
It also has the benefit of pretty spectacular scenery, featuring everything fro lava formations to giant sea turtles and even the opportunity to see humpback whales off the coast.
San Diego, US
This city, located in Southern California, is temperate year-round, with the mercury hovering around 22°C and 14°C in the winter.
Temperatures only rarely become very high, when winds bring hot, dry air from the desert. This can happen in September and October, months which hold the record at 44°C and 42°C, respectively.
The lowest temperature of -4°C was recorded in January 1913. Snow falls only very rarely, at just five times in 125 years.
It is also very sunny, with on average 300 sunny days per year.
Canary Islands, Spain
Situated on the west coast of Africa, the Canary Islands is a collection of seven different islands.
Temperatures are mild year-round, fluctuating in a very narrow range of 18°C to 24°C.
The islands claim to have the “best climate in the world”.
A website promoting tourism on the islands claim summers are rain-free, with winters only average around three rainy days a month.
“Clear skies and infrequent rain make for long, sunny days,” says the hellocanaryislands.com site.
“These extended hours of sunshine are known to have a positive effect on mood and health.
“A day in the Canary Islands sunshine is like a natural vitamin D pill that prevents illness and makes you feel good.”
Nice, France
The famous holiday destination on the Mediterranean coastline has a pleasant climate year-round.
From June to October, average temperatures range from 20°C to 25°C. Temperatures reach a peak in July, when mercury hits 26°C on average. In January, the coldest month, it is 12°C on average.
The sea temperature ranges from 13°C in winter to 23°C in summer.
On average, there are around 2,720 sunshine hours each year.
Sydney, Australia
The city enjoys a sunny climate with mild winters and warm summers, according to the website Australia.com.
During the summer, temperatures average around 18°C to 25°C, while water temperatures are around 22°C to 23°C.
The city frequently benefits from afternoon sea breezes.
In the winter, when sunny skies are most abundant, temperatures drop between 8.8°C to 17°C.
It is, however, prone to droughts. In 2005, the city’s reservoir reached all-time lows.
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 55')
Man of the Match Allan (Everton)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SupplyVan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2029%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20MRO%20and%20e-commerce%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
Disability on screen
Empire — neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis; bipolar disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Rosewood and Transparent — heart issues
24: Legacy — PTSD;
Superstore and NCIS: New Orleans — wheelchair-bound
Taken and This Is Us — cancer
Trial & Error — cognitive disorder prosopagnosia (facial blindness and dyslexia)
Grey’s Anatomy — prosthetic leg
Scorpion — obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety
Switched at Birth — deafness
One Mississippi, Wentworth and Transparent — double mastectomy
Dragons — double amputee
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014
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The specs: 2019 Audi A8
Price From Dh390,000
Engine 3.0L V6 turbo
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 345hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy, combined 7.5L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
More on Quran memorisation:
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
