Climate risk in Riyadh
Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia · 4.5M people in the urban area
What threatens Riyadh most
- Water stress
- Extremely High WRI Aqueduct
Tsunamis and landslides are not rated for a single city here. Climate risk profile of Saudi Arabia
Riyadh's hottest day of 2025 reached 46.3°C.
Jeddah: 39.8°C.
Riyadh's climate in the 2050s
2041-2060 compared with 1991-2020, moderate emissions
By the 2050s, Riyadh's climate will still be more like its own today than any other large city's. The nearest other is Dammam (Saudi Arabia).
+2°C
Mean temperature over the year
+2.3°C
Highest in the warmest month
+1.6°C
Lowest in the coldest month
+44%
Precipitation over the year
Under high emissions, Riyadh would stay nearest its own climate today.
Its own climate today is 4.2 σ away. How close the match is: 9.1 σ to the climate of Dammam today, where under 2 is close and over 4 is no match (Mahony et al. 2017). 3 of 3 climate model runs name the same city. Seasonal temperature and rain are compared, not extremes, city heat or the sea.
Where else Riyadh stands out
183 days
Hot days in 2025, over 35 °C
Jeddah: 92 days.
Higher than in 98% of the world's 630 large cities
+2.4°C
Warming by 2050, moderate emissions
Jeddah: +1.9°C.
The highest of the 5 large cities in Saudi Arabia.
Higher than in 79% of the world's 630 large cities
Hazards at Riyadh
Read at the city's centre and compared with the Atlas's 630 large cities. Moderate emissions is the IPCC's scenario SSP2-4.5.
| Hazard | Riyadh | Among large cities | In Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot days in 2025, over 35 °C | 183 days | Among large cities: above 98% | In Saudi Arabia: 3 of 5 |
| Tropical nights in 2025, over 20 °C | 193 days | Among large cities: above 72% | In Saudi Arabia: 5 of 5 |
| Hottest day of 2025 | 46.3°C | Among large cities: above 98% | In Saudi Arabia: 2 of 5 |
| Warming by 2050, moderate emissions | +2.4°C | Among large cities: above 79% | In Saudi Arabia: 1 of 5 |
| Days with 20 mm of rain or more in 2025 | 0 days | ||
| River flood depth, 100-year event | Dry at the city centre point | ||
| Coastal flood depth, 100-year event | Dry at the city centre point | ||
| Water stress | Extremely High (>80%) | Among large cities: above 70% | In Saudi Arabia: 1 of 4 |
| Land burned in an average year | 0% | ||
| Cyclone wind, once in 100 years | 0 m/s |
Flood depth is read in a single 1 km cell at the city's centre, in today's climate. Other parts of the city can still flood. The country page names the deepest point near a coastal city in 2080, so its figure can be higher. See how deep a river flood reaches around Riyadh on the live map
See the hot days around Riyadh on the live map
183 days © OpenStreetMap Large cities near Riyadh
- Dammam · Saudi Arabia
- Doha · Qatar
- Kuwait City · Kuwait
- Basra · Iraq
Large cities in Saudi Arabia
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Source: Criora (criora.com), based on ECMWF, NEX-GDDP-CMIP6, WRI, IPCC, GSHAP, GFED500
APA
Criora. (2026). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: climate risk profile [Data set]. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://criora.com/atlas/SAU/riyadh BibTeX
@misc{criora_atlas_SAU_riyadh_2026,
author = {{Criora}},
title = {Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: climate risk profile},
year = {2026},
url = {https://criora.com/atlas/SAU/riyadh},
urldate = {2026-11-02}
} Each reading stays under its source's terms; the sources are named on this page.
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