During July, the Maltese islans experienced air temperatures that were higher than expected at this time of year, the Met Office said today.

There were eighteen days during July which registered maximum air temperatures that surpassed the climate norm of 31.6°C. On the last day of July, the air temperature peaked at 36°C.

The Met Office noted that the mean sea temperature was also 1°C warmer than expected at 25.7°C.

A total of 365.6 hours of summer sunshine were measured during the month and, at 0.9 oktas, the mean cloud cover equalled the climate norm.

The islands enjoyed anything between 7.4 and 13.1 hours of daily sunshine, with the brightest day of the month being the 29th of July.

On the day, multiple dust whirls were observed by the Met Office. It said that these whirling columns of dust can reach a height of 30 metres and arise due to unstable air near the ground caused when a surface is strongly heated by the sun.

July was generally calm, maintaining a mean wind speed of 6.8 knots, which is in line with the climate norm. The maximum gust of the month was recorded on the fourth day blowing at 32 knots from a west by northwest direction.

The Met Office said that while 0.2 mm of rainfall are expected at this time of year, last July produced only a trace amount of precipitation.

Photo by Alain Salvary

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