So, what will the weather be like over the next days? The Met Office said that an unstable air masses surrounding the Maltese islands, particularly on the Adriatic Sea, together with a low pressure system over Scandinavia are resulting in troughs from the northwest and leading to unstable weather conditions for Malta.

This will lead to colder days, with the air temperature expected to reach highs of 15oC – with this high going on to drop to 13 oC on Saturday – and register lows that range between 7oC and 11oC.

The Met Office forecast for today and tomorrow, is that windswept days are expected, characterised by force 5 to 6 north-westerly winds which may, at times, reach force 6-7 and be accompanied by showers.

This cold period has come as a bit of a shock following on from a peak of 25.8oC, the maximum air temperature last Saturday. The Met Office said that this went down on the its records as the highest temperature reached in the first month of the year since 1923.

Saturday’s maximum air temperature was, in fact, significantly higher than the 30-year climate norm for the month of January, which stands at 15.6oC.

This warm trend continued into Sunday, with the minimum air temperature for the day reaching the 19.4oC mark in the early hours of the morning, going on to set a new highest minimum temperature record for the month of January.

The Met Office explained that a south-westerly wind from the Sahara Desert contributed to Saturday’s warm air temperature. This was sustained on the following day largely due to the presence of a dense and multi-layered cloud cover, which trapped the heat overnight.

Weather watchers were able to view mid-level clouds, which served to reflect sunlight from the setting sun, and are partly credited for the spectacular sunset the Maltese islands experienced on Saturday afternoon as hues of red and pink lit up the sky.

Prior to last Saturday, the record for the highest air temperature for the first month of the year was held by 29 January 1939, when the mercury hit the 22.8oC mark.

Back then, clear skies led to this high temperature being short-lived, with meteorological records showing that on the morrow a mild minimum temperature of 13.9 oC was recorded in the morning.

Top photo by Alain Salvary and below the Met Office

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