Summer in Baghdad

Iraq is a country of extremes, especially when it comes to the weather. We love Iraq and we love Baghdad but it’s difficult to recommend a summer visit because it is just TOO HOT.

Temperatures start ramping up in late May. Just when it feels too hot to breathe, you may check the temperature to make sure it’s not just you and see it’s 42 degrees. A quick look at the week’s weather forecast goes something like this:

Monday: 43

Tuesday 44

Wednesday 45

Thursday: 46

Friday: 47

Saturday: 47

Every degree counts when it starts getting this hot and you go from thinking you might not be able to make it through a day of 42, only to find yourself, a few days later, longer for such a ‘moderate’ temperature. For us, when it gets that hot, it can feel like you’re being cooked alive!

In summer, it’s only really possible to walk around normally in the early mornings and late at night and, when we recently asked a friend how we would survive the following day’s predicted 47 degrees, his simple reply of “stay inside” really summed it up.

As staying inside is not really the domain of interesting holidays, our advice is that, if you’re planning a holiday in Iraq, avoid going from late May through to mid-September.

Having said that, Iraqis are masters at making these high temperatures as tolerable as possible, so most places are air-conditioned (often to frozen extremes), with a few places relying on fans. Some outdoor venues may deploy wonderful ‘mist’ sprinkler systems which cool the surrounding air or even outside air conditioners.

These options all rely on electricity and Iraq suffers from an electricity deficit. Most premises are supplied by a dual power system, meaning when the government electricity cuts, a generator automatically kicks in. However, if you’re staying in budget accommodation, when the power is coming from a generator, the air conditioning probably won’t function. And daily six or seven-hour stints on generator-power are the norm.

Iraqi Kurdistan and northern Iraq in general are noticeably more moderate in temperature but, if you’re from cooler climes, even there you may well still struggle.

If you do decide to visit Baghdad in summer, don’t forget to take a hat, keep out of the sun and keep very well hydrated.