Whilst watching the crisis unfold in Libya I thought about what was in store for the area if this crisis goes on into the summer.

I noted that the temperature in the Libyan desert can be extreme; on September 13, 1922 the town of Al 'Aziziyah, southwest of Tripoli, recorded an air temperature of 57.8Š°C (136.0Š°F), generally accepted as the highest recorded naturally occurring air temperature reached on Earth.

On our warmest summer day in Yorkshire, we get to 23°C, 73°F and even that temperature can feel uncomfortably warm, especially when it comes with humid air from the Med. Currently the daytime temperature in Libya is about 25°C, 77°F – and it’s only March.

Cooler air will move in from the north, across the Med from Greece as we head towards the weekend. It may even get below freezing in the desert at night.

So anyone in the desert will have endure extreme of temperatures even at this time of year. There will be little if any rain, though.