The mercury soared last year, making it the third hottest on record with an average temperature of 19.88°C.

The heat in 2014 was only exceeded twice before: in 2001 (19.94°C) and 1999 (19.90°C). Last year was also brighter, drier and less windy than average.

September was the hottest month of the year and also the hottest on record since 1923, with the average temperature soaring beyond 34°C.

December was the coldest, with an average temperature 7.7°C and a rare form of precipitation appearing in the form of snow pellets, the Met Office said yesterday.

The hottest day was August 14, when the temperature hit 34.7° and December 31 was the coldest at 2.8°C. This was the second coldest day ever recorded in Malta since 1923.

There was an average of 8.4 hours of sunshine each day, exceeding the daily average norm by 0.4 hours. July was the brightest month with an average of 11.77 hours of sunshine.

There was less rainfall and wind than usual. Total rainfall was 504.3mm, or 48.7mm below the yearly average of 553mm. In total, 34 days of thunder were recorded, nine days of fog and six days of hail.

The driest months were July, August and September, with a total of 0.2mm of rainfall each. The wettest was December, with 150.3mm.

April was the windiest month, blowing at an average of 10 knots. However, the strongest gust was during November 7’s cyclone, at 64 knots in the northwest-by-west direction. This was the third highest wind gust recorded since 1923.

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