Last month was one of the driest Aprils on record with just 3.6 mm of rainfall, the MIA Met Office said today. Records have been kept for 84 years.

It said rainfall last month was 7.3 mm below average. The wettest April since 1922 was that of 1994 when 118.4 mm of rain drenched the Maltese Islands.

With a mean temperature of 17.4°C, last month was 0.3 of a degree cooler than the average of the last 30 years. April of 1998, with a mean temperature of 17.7°C, was the warmest April on record. The coolest was that of 1980 with a mean of 13.9°C.

The warmest day last month was the 11^th with a high of 28.8°C. The warmest April day on record was the 9^th of the month in 1985 when the temperature rose to 30.7°C.

However, the coolest it got last month was early before dawn on the 1^st of the month when the thermometer dropped to 10.3°C. The coolest April night since records began in 1922 was that of the 9^th/10^th of 1956 when a temperature of 4.4°C was registered.

With a mean wind speed of 8.7 knots, April has not lived up to its reputation of being the windiest month of the year this time. For 70% of the time the wind at Malta International Airport last month, was in the light speed bracket. The most frequent direction was the Northwest by West with the strongest gust reaching 32 knots from the West by South on the 3^rd of the month. The strongest gust ever recorded in April by the Meteorological Office was 56 knots from a North-westerly direction on the 15^th of April 1969.

With an average of almost 9 hours of bright sunshine a day, last month was one of the cloudiest Aprils on record. The brightest day was the 22^nd with 12 hours and 12 minutes of bright sunshine, whilst no sunshine was recorded on the 8^th.