How cold does the Sahara get at night?

This catches more people out than anything else about the desert, so I'm glad it's asked. Sand and clear desert air don't hold heat — once the sun drops, whatever warmth the day built radiates straight up into a cloudless sky, and the temperature plummets fast. It's completely normal to have a pleasant 25°C afternoon collapse to single digits within a couple of hours of dark. People picture the Sahara as relentlessly hot and arrive in a t-shirt; the night corrects them quickly.

Season by season, here's what I tell travellers to expect. Deep winter, December through February, is the cold one — nights commonly drop to around 0 to 8°C, occasionally below freezing on the worst nights, even though the days can be a comfortable 18 to 20°C. Spring and autumn, the most popular times, still cool sharply at night, often 8 to 15°C, so a warm layer is essential even when the day was T-shirt weather. High summer, June to August, is the exception: nights stay mild at roughly 20 to 25°C — but the daytime heat then is punishing, often over 40°C, which is its own problem.

The camps are set up for this. You'll find thick wool blankets piled on the beds, often more than you think you'll need, and the better luxury tents have heating or a brazier for winter. Many camps light a fire in the evening that everyone gathers around. So you won't freeze — but you do need to bring the right clothes, because the camp can only do so much if you've packed for a beach holiday.

My packing line for the desert never changes: bring a proper warm layer — a fleece or light down jacket — plus a beanie and a pair of socks, regardless of when you're travelling. Layering is the trick, because you'll shed everything by mid-morning and pile it back on at dusk. And here's the upside of those cold, clear nights: they produce the most jaw-dropping star fields you'll ever see. The very thing that makes it cold — the dry, cloudless sky — is what makes the Sahara one of the best stargazing spots on earth.