The climate varies according to altitude. The coastal plain is hot and dusty throughout most of the year. The highlands are warm in summer and, during winter, from October to March, nights can be very cold in the mountains. Annual rainfall is extremely low and temperatures, particularly in summer, are very high. The most pleasant time is from October to April.

Lightweight clothes are worn in the coastal plain all year. Warmer clothes are needed from November to April in the highlands.

The Republic of Yemen is bordered in the northwest, north and northeast by Saudi Arabia, in the east by Oman and in the south by the Gulf of Aden. To the west lies the Red Sea. The islands of Perim and Karam in the southern Red Sea are also part of the Republic. Yemen is predominantly mountainous, supporting terraced agriculture. The Hadramaut is a range of high mountains in the centre of the country. Highlands rise steeply in central Yemen, ranging in height from approximately 200m (656ft) to the 4,000m (13,123ft) peak of Jabal Nabi Shauib. In contrast is Tihama, a flat semi-desert coastal plain to the west, 50 to 100km (30 to 60 miles) wide. Surface water flows down from the mountains through the valleys during the rainy season and the area is cultivated for cotton and grain. In the east, the mountains drop away to the Rub al-Khali or ‘Empty Quarter’ of the Arabian Peninsula, a vast sea of sand. The arid coastal plains are fringed with sandy beaches.