As Europe freezes, Malta is set to face record warm weather

Ladies can wear their favourite skimpy frocks for New Year's Eve parties tonight but their blow-dries may go a bit awry as the Meteorological Office forecast balmy temperatures and strong winds for today.

Malta has had unusually warm weather over the past few days. A high of 22ºC was recorded yesterday and today's high is expected to hit 21ºC , dipping slightly on New Year's Day when the mercury reaches 18ºC .

Such temperature is higher than the average for this time of year, which is about 16ºC , a weather forecaster said yesterday.

There is a small possibility that the New Year's Day 1923 record of 18.3ºC - reached in 1953, 1976, 1990 and 1995 - will be broken tomorrow. However, the record 18.7ºC for the average maximum temperature in December is unlikely to be broken, despite an all-time record high of 24.1ºC on Christmas Day.

A moderate to rather strong west-south-westerly wind is expected today, getting stronger throughout the day. The early hours of tomorrow will see a moderate to strong westerly wind, which will increase in strength throughout the day.

Wind force will peak on Saturday and diminish by Sunday evening. Temperatures are also expected to get slightly cooler over the weekend.