2005 was coolest in last 21 years

An average temperature of 18.7°C made 2005 the coolest year in the last 21 years.

However, the coolest year since 1922 - since the Meteorological Office started operating in Malta - was 1929 with an average temperature of 17.8°C. The warmest year was 2001, with a mean of 19.9°C.

The Met. Office, which forms part of Malta International Airport, said the coolest month last year was February, with a mean temperature of 10.6 °C. Over the past 83 years, only four other Februaries were cooler - those of 2003, 1965, 1956 and 1929.

With a mean temperature of 11.1°C, January last year was also the coolest of the past 24 years.

The lowest temperature recorded last year was 3.9°C on February 6. The lowest temperature ever reached, since records began in 1922, was that of January 29, 1981 when the thermometer plunged to 1.4°C.

The warmest month last year was July, with a mean temperature of 26.7 °C, followed by August with 25.4 °C.

The highest temperature recorded last year was 36.4°C on July 1 - this does not even come anything close to the record high of 43.8°C experienced on August 9, 1999, the Met. Office said.

Last years' lowest temperature at grass level was -1.8°C, recorded around dawn on January 18.

The lowest grass height temperature ever reached was -5°C on January 9, 1966.

The Met. Office said that rainfall last year, measuring 505.6 millimetres, was just 51mm less than the average.

At 955.6 mm, 1951 was the wettest and 1961, with 274.2 mm, was the driest.

There were 89 rain days last year - November alone having 18 of them, followed by February with 15 and none in July.

Records held at the Met. Office show that November 1958 had the highest number of rain days, 25, followed by November 1988 with 23 days.

The day in 2005 when it rained most was December 13 when 63.2 mm of rain were recorded. The wettest day since 1947 was November 10, 1988 with 162.5 mm.

There were 29 days when thunder was heard, seven of them in November.

Never in the past 44 years have we had more days with hail than last year. On 15 days the rain was accompanied by hail and almost half of those were in January.

The sea temperature averaged 19.9°C for the whole year, which is slightly warmer than average. The year with the highest sea temperature was 2001 with a mean of 20.9°C. However, the year with the coolest average sea temperature was 1978 with 18.8°C.

The northwest was the predominant wind direction last year and the northerly being the least frequent.

The monthly average wind speed was 7.9 knots (15 kilometres per hour or nine mph). This is just 0.7 knots (1.3 kilometres per hour or 0.8 mph) lighter than the average for the past 30 years.

The highest wind gust was from a west north-westerly direction and reached 44 knots (81 kilometres per hour or 51 mph) on April 10.

Fog, with very poor visibility, enshrouded the airport and most of Malta on a total of nine days of which six were in March.

On average, Malta enjoyed eight hours of sunshine a day, which is slightly less than the average.

During these years the brightest year was 1961 with 8.9 hours of sunshine and the dullest was 1976 with 7.5 hours of sun a day.

According to the World Meteorological Organisation the global mean surface temperature in 2005 is currently estimated to be 0.44°C warmer than the annual average of 14°C.

Last year is likely to be among the warmest four years in the world temperature record since 1861. However, 1998 remains the warmest when surface temperatures averaged 0.54°C above the 30-year mean.

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season brought an unprecedented 26 named tropical storms, 14 of which were hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest hurricane to affect the United States since 1928, killing at least 1,300 people.

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