Private station records highest April temperature

Malta Weather Services, a private meteorological station, said today that it had recorded a temperature of 31.3°C at Balzan, the highest for April since it started keeping records 20 years ago.

The previous hottest April day was on 30th April 1999 when the maximum temperature had gone up to 29.4°C.

Malta Weather Services said the hot temperatures were due to very warm air over northern Africa making its way up to the central Mediterranean due to moderate southerly winds blowing from the Sahara Desert.

However, as from tomorrow, the winds will be from a much cooler north-westerly direction, and therefore maximum temperatures will go down substantially to around 22°C.

From Sunday and throughout most of next week, maximum temperatures will be a much cooler 18°C to 19°C.

A spokesman for the MIA Met Office at Luqa, contacted at 3.30 p.m. said the office had recorded a temperature of 27.1 °C so far but the forecast was for a maximum of 29°C.

The record April temperature recorded so far at Luqa was 30.7 on April 9, 1985.