• Temperatures reached a maximum of 29.3°C
• Over 24 mm of rain measured on the month’s wettest day
• Just over 212 hours of sunshine recorded

 As a warmer and drier summer season drew to a close, October eased the Maltese Islands into wetter and cooler weather. Air temperatures dropped from an average of 25.6°C in September to a mean air temperature of 22.3°C in October.

However, the air temperature remained relatively warm throughout the month, rising to a high of 29.3°C on the first day of the month and falling to a low of 15.9°C on October 8th. In fact, temperatures were generally warmer than the climate norm, with the mean maximum and minimum temperatures exceeding the monthly average by 0.5°C and 1°C respectively.

On the other hand, October saw its fair share of dark clouds and stormy weather roll over the Maltese Islands. While not more than five thundery days are expected during this time of the year, the first half of the month alone rattled the island with five stormy days, increasing to 11 days by the end of October.

The spells of stormy weather produced a total of 94 mm of rain throughout last month, exceeding the climate norm by almost 20 mm. A wetter-than-expected October was capped off with 24.6 mm of rainfall dousing the islands on the 29th of October, making the day the wettest one of the month.

While the islands welcomed lower temperatures and wetter weather, sunny skies remained a regular fixture on the weather forecast, with October’s daily sunlight hours averaging at 6.8 hours. A total of 212.1 sunshine hours were measured throughout the month, with a lighter cloud cover measuring a daily average of 3.2 oktas being reported.