By midday, the heat radiating off the sand at Brandons Beach was almost unbearable. Tourists darted quickly between shaded spots and the water’s edge, vendors wiped sweat from their brows from the sweltering conditions in the stalls while plant sellers watched helplessly as leaves drooped under the relentless sun.
For many across Barbados, the island’s recent heat has felt different – harsher, heavier and far more draining than the warmth to which they have been accustomed to.
“It feels like the soles of my feet are actually burning,” said Mark, a repeat visitor who spends up to six months a year in Barbados.
“Normally I can walk across the sand and I’m fine, but today it’s extremely hot.”
Mark, who has visited the island for the past three years, said even simple routines have changed. Surfing and swimming now offer his only real relief during the hottest parts of the day.
“You have to have a fan on you all the time,” he said, explaining that he avoids air conditioning indoors and instead relies on constant airflow. “It’s an awesome form of cooling down.”
But while visitors can retreat to the sea, many Barbadians working outdoors have no such escape.
At the BARVEN market, on the Mighty Grynner Highway, vendors described a daily battle against rising temperatures while trying to keep businesses operating.
“We usually don’t use the AC,” said vendor Trinity Lewis. “Most of the time we just open both doors in the stall so more wind can pass through and customers can still see us.”
For plant vendor Jason Clarke, the afternoon heat is often unbearable. “Especially after 12 o’clock, when the sun coming down on you . . . . That is the real challenge.”
Without a tent or proper cover over his stall, Clarke said he often leaves early in the afternoon once the heat becomes too intense. “The heat don’t be easy sometimes, but you learn to deal with it.”
Others say the weather is damaging not only their comfort, but their livelihood.
Plant seller Gail Patelle explained that her plants visibly suffer throughout the day.
“When I first bring them out the leaves look high and green, but as the day progresses they droop,” she said, adding that she constantly sprays them with water to keep them alive.
“The days are so hot that sometimes I leave before the afternoon gets going,” she added.
Nearby, vendor David Brathwaite pointed to missing tents that once shielded sections of the market.
“One time they were tents that helped this side be cooler, but then they were removed,” he said. “Now the sun just bears down on us.”
The Barbados Meteorological Services (BMS) says Barbadians are indeed experiencing warmer-than-normal conditions. Overnight temperatures have been running roughly two degrees above average, while dry-season winds have provided only limited daytime relief.
Compounding concerns, the BMS and Barbados Water Authority recently placed the island under a hydrological drought watch, while an agricultural drought “be aware” alert remains in effect.
Regional climate experts warn the current conditions may only be the beginning.
The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and the University of the West Indies Climate Studies Group at Mona are cautioning that a developing El Niño system could bring even hotter and drier conditions across the Caribbean throughout this year and next.
In a release, Climatologist Dr Cedric Van Meerbeeck warned that the emerging El Niño pattern was likely to produce prolonged dry spells, reduced rainfall and periods of oppressive humid heat across the region, increasing the risk of heat stress, water shortages and agricultural losses.
Historically, El Niño periods have coincided with some of the Caribbean’s most severe droughts, including the major regional droughts of 2009-2010 and 2014-2016, which strained water supplies and devastated agricultural production across several islands.
Climate scientists also pointed to the record heat years of 2010, 2023, and 2024, as examples of how extreme temperatures can combine with drought and marine heatwaves to create dangerous multi-layered climate threats. Those marine heatwaves have already contributed to coral bleaching events across parts of the Caribbean.
“What we are seeing in the forecasts is the emergence of a potential multi-hazard regime – where heat, drought and marine impacts can occur together and reinforce each other,” said professor Michael Taylor, co-director of the UWI Climate Studies Group Mona.
Taylor warned that the impacts could ripple across nearly every sector of Caribbean life, from agriculture and water resources to health, tourism and energy systems.
Experts said reduced rainfall and rising temperatures could threaten food security and rural livelihoods, while hotter conditions may worsen heat-related illnesses and place additional pressure on healthcare systems already dealing with high rates of chronic diseases.
They also warned that global supply chains and shipping routes could be affected. Previous drought conditions linked to El Niño disrupted operations at the Panama Canal, a critical route for goods entering the Caribbean and the eastern United States.
Although El Niño years are often associated with quieter Atlantic hurricane seasons, Van Meerbeeck stressed that the region could still face devastating storms, noting that single systems such as Hurricane Andrew in The Bahamas in 1992 and Tropical Storm Erika in Dominica in 2015 caused catastrophic damage despite overall quieter seasons.
For now, regional experts are urging governments, businesses and households to prepare early for worsening climate extremes, warning that the Caribbean is entering an era where heat, drought and environmental stress are increasingly interconnected realities rather than isolated events. (DDS)
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