Europe may be freezing over as the continent experiences some of its coldest temperatures in decades. But Malta’s main asset – its mild climate – has not melted away as neighbouring countries get snowed in and deal with weather-related deaths.
Though the effects of the current cold snap over Europe will start to be felt over the Maltese Islands by tomorrow, the situation will not be as harsh, a Met. Office spokesman said.
The Mediterranean island has the “modifying effect” of the sea to thank for sparing it the cold spell. “It warms the air passing over it before reaching our area,” the spokesman explained.
The freezing weather is due to a high pressure system over Russia, bringing cold easterly winds from Siberia to mainland Europe, he said.
The extreme cold in Eastern Europe has claimed 79 lives, with people dying of hypothermia and freezing to death as emergency crews work overtime to combat the effect of temperatures sinking to -32.5°C in some areas. At -27°C, Bulgaria is experiencing its lowest temperatures in 100 years.
The locals may still be complaining as they shudder under the effects of the cold front spreading from distant Siberia, but the reality is the Maltese Islands are currently under the influence of a relatively warm current of air from the southwest as a low pressure system over the western Mediterranean is deepening and moving eastwards, the Met. Office said.
“As the centre of this low pressure reaches the Tyrrhenian today, the wind will back further southerly and the weather will become cloudier, with the possibility of some rain by evening,” it forecast.
By tomorrow, the wind will veer west-northwest and the temperature will start decreasing, with showers also expected over the weekend, it said. Temperatures will be in the region of 10°C over the weekend, with winds hovering around force 5.
But that is a far cry from what the rest of Europe is withstanding. Close by, Italy has been heavily hit by snow, while to rub salt into the wound, the weather is also affecting gas supplies as the demand increases.
It may be cold in Europe but after showers forecast for the weekend, it probably won’t take long for the mild Mediterranean climate to reassert itself. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi