Best time to visit Dubai

Dubai is a city of two halves. February scores 98 and September scores 30 — a 68-point swing, which is the difference between a holiday and an endurance test. The month you pick matters more here than almost anywhere. 4 of the twelve months sit within ten points of the best, so there is more than one right answer.

August is the warmest month at 39.7 °C and January the coolest at 23.1 °C — a 16.6 °C spread across the year. 224 days a year top 30 °C, more than a third of the calendar, so heat is the baseline here rather than a season.

Rain is spread evenly through the year — between 0 and 3 wet days in every month — so there is no dry season to aim for and no wet one to dodge. Whatever you plan, the odds of rain are much the same.

The sea never drops below 21.9 °C, so swimming is on the table year round. Daylight runs from 10.6 hours in winter to 13.7 in summer, enough to notice on a sightseeing itinerary.

The three strongest months are February, December, January. The one to think twice about is September. Each month below has its own page with rainfall reliability, extremes, daylight, sea temperature and crowd levels.

Dubai month by month