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Weather and climate in Malta and Gozo

Current Weather and weather forecast for the Maltese Islands

Today, Thursday, October 31, 2013

FAIR NIGHT temperature 22°C sunrise 06:23
humidity 79% sunset 17:08
pressure 1016 wind SbyE 9 Knots

 

Forecast

      max temperature min temperature wind UV index
Thursday CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORM 25°C 19°C SSE 4
Friday CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORM 24°C 18°C SSE 4
Saturday CHANCE OF SHOWERS 24°C 17°C WNW 4
Sunday PARTLY CLOUDY 24°C 17°C WSW 4
Monday PARTLY CLOUDY 25°C 18°C WSW 4

Weather and Climate - hot and dry

Maltese climate

The climate in Malta is a Subtropical Mediterranean one, with long, hot, dry and very sunny summers and short, mild and slightly rainy winters. This kind of climate is typical of most of the counties in the Mediterranean Basin. The weather in Malta is stable and the average temperature is 22-23°C during the day whilst during the night it is 15°C.

The sea temperature is 20°C during January and 26°C in August. Swimming is therefore possible all year round (for the hardier people) with the sea temperature rarely dropping below 15°C. From June to November, the average sea temperature exceeds 21 °C.

Rainfall and sunshine in Malta

Malta is one of the countries with the highest number of sunshine hours per year in Europe, double of many cities in the north of the region. Malta has an average of more than 5 hours of sunshine per day in December to over 12 hours of sunshine in July adding up to around 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. To compare, London only has 1,461 hours of sunshine a year.

The annual rainfall in Malta is low, averaging 578mm a year, and during the summer months there can be very long dry spells without a drop of rain. Almost three-fourths of the yearly rainfall falls between October and March. Malta has strong winds and the most common are the cool north-westerly winds and the dry north-easterly winds. There is also the very hot and humid south-easterly wind. Humidity in Malta is a problem for some as it is always relatively high and rarely falls below 40%.
Weather and Climate in Malta

Summers in Malta

Summers in Malta are hot, dry and very sunny with August usually the warmest month. In August temperatures in Malta vary from 28-34°C during the day and cool down to 19-24°C during the night a. The summer season lasts 8 months and the weather start warming up in April, with a temperature of 19-23°C during the day and ends in November with temperatures of 17- 25°C during the day. However, it is not unusual that the temperature reaches 20° C during the day in the remaining four months. Due to the high humidity percentage in Malta, it can become quite unbearable to stay in the sun during the summer months, especially during August and September. On the other hand, the sea breezes are cooling in summer especially along the coasts and beaches where its ideal to spend your day.

Winters in Malta

Winters in Malta are usually mild. The coldest month is January with temperatures ranging from 12-20°C during the day and 7-15°C during the night. When the weather cools down it is due to the North winds from central Europe. During the winter, which lasts from December to March, the daytime temperature hardly ever drops below 10°C. Malta has the warmest winters in Europe, with an average temperature of 15-16°C during the day that drops to 9-10°C during the night. Snow does not fall in Malta, but during the winter months it tends to get pretty windy from wind blowing from the northeast. These winds usually last around three days. Thunderstorms make up most of the rainfall during the winter months.

Average weather data for the Maltese Islands

 MONTH         Temperature         Rainfall        Sunshine       Humidity
January           14°C (57F)           90mm           6 hours           67%
February         15°C (59F)           60mm           7 hours           66%
March              17°C (62F)           39mm           8 hours           65%
April                19°C (66F)           15mm           9 hours            64%
May                 23°C (73F)           12mm         10 hours           63%
June                26°C (79F)             2mm         12 hours           60%
July                 30°C (86F)              0mm        12 hours            59%
August            31°C (88F)              8mm        12 hours            62%
September      28°C (82F)           29mm           8 hours            64%
October           24°C (75F)           63mm           7 hours            65%
November       20°C (68F)            91mm           6 hours            67%
December       17°C (62F)           110mm          5 hours            68%