Warmer February was also one of the driest in 56 years

February which has just ended was one of the driest in the last 56 years. Only 14.8mm of rain was recorded - a quarter of the downfall usually recorded - making it one of the driest Februaries since 1948, the Met Office said yesterday.

February is supposed to be a fairly wet month - a Maltese saying has it that Frar ifawwar il-bjar, meaning that water reservoirs overflow in February. But only five of the last 56 Februaries were drier than last month, that of 1957 being the driest on record, with just 3.5 mm.

The wettest February since official records began in September, 1947, occurred in 1965, when 187.9 mm of rain was recorded.

One reason for the lack of rain was the presence of high atmospheric pressure over the central Mediterranean, the Met Office said.

The average temperature last month was 13°C, or about half a degree warmer than the average for the past 30 years. Averages have only been calculated for the past three decades.

The highest temperature, 21.8°C, was reached on February 20 when an area of low atmospheric pressure, centred in the Straits of Gibraltar, pushed very warm southerly winds from the North African desert to the central Mediterranean.

The lowest temperature reached was 5°C on February 14. The coldest February night on record was February 8, 1956, when the mercury touched a low of 1.7°C.

The sea, with an average temperature of 14.8°C, was only slightly cooler than average.