Last month was one of the driest Aprils recorded in 84 years, with a mere 3.6 mm of rainfall, according to the Meteorological Office at the Malta International Airport.

This amount of rain was 7.3mm below average, and well below the wettest April on record, which was 1994 when 118.4mm of rain fell on the Maltese islands.

April was also comparatively warm, with a mean temperature of 17.4°C, which is only 0.3 of a degree cooler than the average of the last 30 years. April of 1998, with a mean temperature of 17.7°C, was the warmest April on record. The coolest was that of 1980 with a mean temperature of just 13.9°C.

The warmest day this April was the 11th with a high of 28.8°C. The warmest April day on record was the 9th of April 1985 when the temperature rose to a sticky 30.7°C.

However, with an average of almost 9 hours of bright sunshine a day, last month was one of the cloudiest Aprils on record.

The brightest day was the 22nd of April with 12 hours and 12 minutes of bright sunshine, whilst no sunshine at all was recorded on the 8th.

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