Sitting astride a motorbike near a Dubai kitchen, sweat forms on Mohamad’s brow as he waits to collect a lunch order. The food is not for him; he’ll drive it through the sweltering financial and tourist hub to a customer in an air-conditioned tower block.
With the mercury nudging 44C and high humidity, “it feels like a sauna”, the delivery driver says. Originally from Pakistan, Mohamad is uncomfortably dressed for the weather, wearing protective pads, dark trousers and the branded long-sleeved, high-neck top supplied by the delivery platform he works with.
From July to early September, Dubai’s streets are so hot and sticky that the “heat index”, a combination of air temperature and moisture levels, regularly exceeds 50C.