• Just over 226 hours of sunshine recorded
• 24.8mm of rainfall collected making for a drier-than-average October
• 13 October was the windiest day: maximum gust of 34 knots recorded
• Thundery showers and rather strong winds expected this weekend

OCTOBER WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS

Air temperatures that hovered around the 20°C mark and just over 226 hours of sunshine made for pleasant October weather on the Maltese islands.

In October, the air temperature ranged between a low of 13.1°C and a high of 30.4°C recorded on the third day of the month. While the mean air temperature for October was 0.7°C lower than the norm of 21.5°C, the mean sea temperature surpassed the norm of 23.5°C by 1.1°C.

On average, October days were bathed in 7.3 hours of sunshine, with the brightest day of the month clocking up 10.5 sunshine hours. In contrast, the twelfth day of the month was the dullest, with just 0.2 hours of sunshine recorded.

The day was also the wettest of the month, producing 11mm of rainfall, and one of four thundery days reported in October. Total precipitation collected last October amounted to 24.8mm, which was significantly less than the 75.6mm expected at this time of year.

Throughout the month a mean wind speed of 8.7 knots was maintained, with a maximum gust of 34 knots blowing from a west by north direction recorded on 13 October.

WEEKEND WEATHER OUTLOOK

While November weather has been generally good so far, thundery showers are forecast for the coming days, with air temperatures expected to range between lows of 14°C and highs of 19°C.

The weekend is expected to be rather windy, with force 4 to 5 winds from the southwest becoming force 3 from a southeasterly direction forecast for Saturday and force 3 to 4 southeasterly winds forecast for Sunday.