March was yet again another dry month, the third in a row this year, with a total rainfall of just 21.8mm, more than half of which fell on the very last night, according to figures released yesterday by the Meteorological Office.

The average amount for March is in the order of 42mm.

The driest March since records began being kept by the Met. Office in 1947 was 0.4mm in 1977.

Last month's rainfall was not that unusual as there have been another 18 years when March was drier than this year.

The wettest March was that of 1953 with 144.6mm.

The fine weather experienced in March was mainly attributed to the high pressure systems covering the central Mediterranean for most of the time.

The mean temperature was 13.8°C, which was practically that expected for March, however the day-time temperatures were 16.6°C which were about half a degree cooler than normal, whereas the night time ones were 10.9°C, which were about half a degree warmer than average.

The highest temperature last month was 23.6°C which occurred on the 26th - the highest March temperature recorded at the airport was 33.5°C in 2001.

The lowest temperature this March was 7.4°C recorded on the 2nd of the month - the mercury had dropped to 2.2°C in March 1949.

The sea was slightly cooler than average with a mean of 14.8°C.

The last four days of the month were remarkably humid with an average relative humidity value of 92 per cent, compared with a 72 per cent relative humidity for the rest of the month. This high humidity resulted in a large amount of low cloud covering the islands for most of the time and of fog engulfing the airport and other areas on the last two days of the month.

A five-day forecast, a detailed and constantly updated three-day forecast for mariners, the UV Index as well as Doppler Weather Radar and Satellite Infra Red Images are available on the Met. Office website.

www.maltairport.com/weather

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