Last winter was exceptionally cold and stormy, one of the stormiest in the past 20 years.

The Meteorological Office said that between late December and March, the Maltese islands experienced at least 25 thunder storms, nearly double the norm (13). March alone saw the most thundery days since 1951.

The persistent rainfall through the season resulted in it being one of the country’s wettest.

March was the third wettest month since 1994, registering a maximum rate of 20mm of rainfall per hour during storms.

February saw a total of 112.8mm of rainfall. This was nearly double the norm (56.9mm). 

During December, a total of 150.3mm of rainfall was collected, slightly more than the norm (104.8mm). The maximum precipitation recorded in a single day was on December 29, when a total of 30.8mm of rain was collected, falling at a rate of 26.4mm per hour.

New Year’s Eve was the coldest December night ever to be ever, when temperatures fell to 2.8 degrees Celsius. This generated a rare form of precipitation between December 30 and 31 resulting in snow pellets.

The sea temperature in December averaged at 19.1 degrees Celsius, the second warmest sea surface temperature since 1977. The warmest sea surface temperature for December was recorded in 2006 at 19.3 degrees Celsius.

On January 9, Malta experienced an unusual high mean sea level pressure registering a value of 1037.2hPa.

In total, winds were stronger than the norm. The highest hourly mean wind recorded was on January 12 and 23 when it reached 38 knots from the northwest and west by north direction respectively.

The highest wind gust of 44 knots from the north westerly direction arrived on February 9, followed by 42 knots from the north westerly direction on March 30.

Variations in air temperatures were also recorded, wherein the highest maximum temperature recorded in December reached 22.9 degrees Celsius while the lowest day maximum temperature was 7.7 degrees Celsius on New Year’s eve.