Saudi Gazette report

MINA — Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the Saudi National Meteorological Center (NMC), said that next year’s Hajj will be the last Hajj in the summer season. “The Hajj season will enter a new phase of climate change during the year 2026. We will not witness summer Hajj until after 17 years,” he said.

Al-Qahtani said that the year 2026 will mark the beginning of the spring season for eight consecutive years, followed by another 8 years during which the Hajj pilgrimage will happen in the winter season. “We will bid farewell to Hajj in the summer season for a period of 16 years,” he said while noting that average temperatures in this Hajj ranges between 45 and 47 degrees Celsius.

For his part, Dr. Mansour Al Mazroui, member of the Shoura Council who is a researcher in climate change, confirmed that next year will also witness the Hajj season coinciding with the summer season, and then the Hajj season will move climatically to the spring season for eight years, after that it will move to the winter season. “The Hajj season comes in the winter season, starting in the Hijri year 1454 and continuing for 8 years, ending in the Hijri year 1461. As for the fall season, the Hajj season lasts between the years of 1462 and 1469,” he said adding: “Thus the four seasons have completed their cycle over the course of 33 Hijri years, to re-enter the Hajj season in the summer season again in the year 1470, and will remain there for nine years.”