November this year was drier and sunnier than the norm for the month.

Total rainfall registered at the Malta International Airport was 35.9mm, a far cry from the usual levels of about 80mm.

The highest amount of rain on record to have fallen over a period of 24 hours in any November amounted to 162.5mm in 1998, while this year's highest in a day was a paltry 13mm.

The seven hours of sunshine a day last month represented an hour more than the climate norm.

The Met Office attributed the fair weather and the lack of rainfall to a stable high pressure system over the Maltese islands starting from November 11 and persisting till almost the end of the month.

There were 10 days during which enough dew was formed to measure a total of 2.8mm. During last month's cloudless nights, the ground cooled down and lowered the air temperature just enough to form dew.

Humidity was slightly higher than the mean at 79 per cent, with two foggy days on the 18th and 19th. There was only one day with thunderstorms, which is low compared to the norm of four days. The stormiest November on record was in 1962 with 12 days of thunderstorms.

Despite the sunnier weather, November was cooler than the average in the last 30 years, registering a mean temperature of 16.9˚C.

The wind was 6.8 knots, a typical average value, with the most prevalent direction being from the West North West.