July became the hottest month on the Meteorological Office’s record, with an mean air temperature of 29.6°C.

Locally, this record was previously held by August 1999, back when the temperature had averaged 29.2°C.

The Met Office said that August 1999 still holds the record for the highest temperature of 43.8°C, despite a series of much higher-than-average temperatures being registered last month.

24 days in July saw the mercury soar past the month’s climate norm of 31.7°C. Moreover, on six consecutive days, the maximum temperature ranged between 40°C and 42.7°C recorded on 24 July, as a 10-day heatwave intensified.

The month’s lowest temperature was recorded on 6 July at 21.1°C, falling 1.0°C below the climate norm for the month’s minimum temperature. Back in 1980, the minimum night-time temperature had dipped to 15.5°C, which is much closer to the norm for November than that for July.

July’s high temperatures were accompanied by a total of 382.1 hours of sunshine, with even the month’s least sunny day clocking 10.7 hours of sunshine. At 0.3 oktas, the mean cloud cover for the month was lower than the expected 0.8 oktas.

Given that the month’s rainfall norm is 0.1mm, July produced no rain whatsoever.

While July was calmer than expected, the month’s maximum gust reached 31 knots and blew from the Northwest on the second day.

Winds from a northwest direction made a much-welcome return towards the end of the month, bringing cooler temperatures to the islands.

File photo: Gozo News/Alain Salvary

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