Weather station records hottest April temperature

Malta Weather Services, a private meteorological station, said yesterday 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 April 30, 1999, when the maximum temperature hit 29.4°C.

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

The winds will be blowing from a much cooler north-westerly direction as from today and, therefore, maximum temperatures will go down substantially to about 22°C. From tomorrow and throughout most of next week, maximum temperatures will be much cooler: 18°C to 19°C.

A spokesman for the MIA Meteorological Office at Luqa 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°C on April 9, 1985.