Dubai in February: a few degrees warmer, and still comfortable

How February differs from January

Two things. Days run a few degrees warmer, which for most people is an improvement instead of a cost, mid to high twenties with low humidity is close to ideal for walking a city. And the evenings no longer need a jacket.

The other difference is at the margin of the crowd: the New Year peak has passed, the Shopping Festival has ended, and late February is measurably calmer than early January without being any less comfortable.

The events month

February holds a dense outdoor events calendar, because it is one of the few months when large outdoor gatherings are comfortable, sport, concerts, food festivals and racing all cluster here and in March.

That is worth checking in both directions: a major event can fill hotels on specific dates, and it can also be the reason to pick those dates.

What to do this month

Everything, without planning around the heat. This is the right month for the walking-heavy days, the historic quarter and the souks at any hour, a full beach day, the desert in daylight rather than only at dusk.

It is also the best month for a longer itinerary that leaves the city: Hatta in the mountains and the east coast are both genuinely pleasant now and unbearable in summer.

Booking, and where the value is

Still peak, so book the observation deck and any restaurant that matters. Hotels ease slightly towards the end of the month.

If February is fixed and the budget is tight, the saving is in the district instead of the date: Deira or Bur Dubai at a third of coastal rates, or Al Barsha with its own metro station.

February against the rest of the year

Against January it is warmer by a degree or two, needs no jacket and thins out towards the end of the month. Against March it is cooler and more expensive, and it does not carry March's late-month heat. Against the summer it is the opposite trip in every respect.

The case for February over January is small but real: the same low humidity and warm sea, marginally warmer days, and a crowd that has passed its New Year peak.

The case against it is price. February sits at the top of the range along with January, and if the budget is the binding constraint, October or late March deliver most of this weather for less.

The desert at night in February

February has the coldest nights of the year here, and that changes what a desert trip is like rather than whether it is worth doing. Once the sun goes, the temperature in the dunes falls further and faster than it does in the city, and the difference between five in the afternoon and eight in the evening is substantial.

The camps know it. Fires are lit, blankets are handed out and the evening programme is built around sitting instead of standing about. What it means for a visitor is simply to take the layer you would not think to take: a jumper and a jacket, and closed shoes rather than sandals for the evening half.

The compensation is the sky. Cool, dry February air is the clearest of the year, and an hour away from the city lights the stars are genuinely worth the trip on their own. Camps running an overnight stay are at their best this month for exactly that reason, and at their least comfortable if you arrive dressed for the beach.

The same clarity that makes the desert worthwhile also makes February the best month of the year for the view attractions. Haze is at its annual minimum, the horizon holds, and a deck ticket bought this month delivers what the photographs promise, not a pale approximation of it.

February is the month to spend on the things that need a clear sky.