Maltese and international media organisations did not miss the opportunity to prank their readers for the traditional April Fools’ day.

The Times of Malta ran a story that major road works would be taking place at the very busy Msida junction, close to the Kappara roundabout project which starts in 10 days time, providing a veritable traffic nightmare.

The Malta Independent also resorted to transport as a base for its April Fools' joke by claiming that Arriva will be returning as Malta's public transport operator because Autobuses de Leon have turned out to be less reliable, less efficient and less competent.

Malta Today claimed that the government was set on eliminating March 31 and  September 8 as national holidays.

Meanwhile, the press overseas also kept the tradition alive, especially in the UK where the EU referendum was at the heart of most pranks.

The Independent let their readers believe leaked Cabinet Office documents revealed Scotland and Wales could form their own country if Britain were to vote to leave the EU – a plan including the creation of a bridge or tunnel via the Isle of Man.

The Daily Express claimed that the European Union had demanded that all member states were to add the European ring of stars to their national flag. Pushing for more integration, are we? Maybe a United States of Europe is really the final goal.                                 

Belgian newspaper Sudpresse also joined in the fun, mocking national train company, SNCB, by declaring passengers will now have to stand in seatless trains during rush hours.

The news platform wrote: “‘Faced with the issue of obesity in our current society, SNCB is helping fight this plague. By standing for an hour or more, passengers will burn calories and maintain their muscular tone.”

Meanwhile, China’s state news service wrote a post on Friday, criticising tradition spoof news published on April Fools as ‘un-Chinese’, according to AFP.

French news outlet France Bleu 'announced' the opening of a communication centre in La Drôme. Nothing special here… except it will be dedicated to communication with extra-terrestrial life. As the two existing ones – in the USA and South Africa – are both located in arid areas, France Bleu said that scientists believed that aliens might be scared their signals will be lost in the desert, which is why they would not have communicated with Earth yet.

The jokes transcended the social media. Anti-EU membership campaigner Nigel Farage horrified some Ukip supporters with an April Fools’ Day joke announcing his backing for Britain to stay in the European Union.

“I've decided that today is the perfect time to announce that I'll be supporting the campaign to Remain in the EU,” he tweeted from his account.