A few days ago, the Guardian ran a story about the improvement in the July weather in the UK. It anticipated ‘blistering temperatures’ of 31C. Nothing near the scorcher record of 38.5C in 2003, but nonetheless better than the miserable wet UK Winter and Spring.

The thermometer here in Doha has crept up in the last month or so, with daytime peaks at around 44C. I just went for a 20 minutes walk around our local streets with the temperature at 35C. The sun is bright, I have factor 50 on the visible parts and I came back neither too hot or sweaty.

When it is humid, which has hardly happened so far, it is quite debilitating, but mostly it has been a dry heat. That is not to say I would want to be out in it for more that 15 or 20 minutes, but it is not the killer I had thought.

Everywhere indoors is air conditioned, and even outdoors in some cafes and restaurants, so for most of the day the heat is not a problem.

We are returning to the UK on Monday where the temperature may reach the mid/late 20Cs… that was the sort of weather we enjoyed from November through to April in Qatar.

It will doubtless heat up more in August. My next weather report will be when it has hit the 50C mark.