June’s record heat carries on to July

June’s record heat of 37.8°C has carried on to July with the average temperatures recorded on 22 out of a total of 31 days of the last month exceeding the climate norm of 26.6°C, according to a press statement the Malta National Airport (MLA) sent to Business Malta.

The maximum temperature measured in July peaked at 39.6°C on 9 July in the midst of a heatwave reaching the Maltese Islands. The lowest temperature of 21°C was measured on both 5 and 20 July, however, the sea temperature was one centigrade warmer than the climate norm, reaching 26.4°C.

Sunshine hours of 368.3 surpassed the climate norm by 4.2 hours in July, due to the mean total cloud cover falling below the average to 0.8 oktas — a unit used in expressing the extent of cloud cover, equal to one-eighth of the sky. While July registered a mean of 11.9 hours of sunshine daily, the brightest day was July 4th when a total of 13.1 hours of sunshine were recorded.

Despite the spike in temperatures, July was not as dry as expected, with 0.8mm of precipitation being recorded throughout the month by the Met Office. July was also slightly windier than expected, exceeding the climate norm of 6.8 knots (12.5 kph) by 0.6 knots (1.1 kph).