The Malta Met Office has said that while February brought the meteorological winter to a close, the astronomical winter is still on its way out, and it is expected to make a cold and blustery exit.

Cloudy skies will dominate most of the weekend, with isolated showers being forecast for Sunday, it said.

The Met Office warned that on Saturday, strong winds blowing from an East Southeast direction are expected to reach Force 7 to 8, whipping up very rough seas.

While the sea will remain unsettled until Sunday, the day is expected to be calmer than Saturday, as Force 6 winds from the Easterly direction back East Northeast and gradually die down to Force 5.

Between Saturday and Sunday, the air temperature will range between lows of 7°C and highs of 13°C, with the maximum temperatures feeling even colder as a result of the strong winds that will characterise the weekend, the Met Office said.

Referring to the last meteorological winter, the Met Office said that it yielded 115.8 mm of precipitation, or just under half the total rainfall expected during this season according to the 1991-2020 climate norm.

The Maltese Islands last experienced a winter season that was wetter than the climate norm between December 2014 and February 2015, back when 312.7 mm of precipitation had been measured, it said.

Photo by Alain Salvary

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