April, like March, was warmer and drier than usual, the MIA Met Office reported today. 

Only 3.4mm of rainfall was recorded, a far cry from the April norm of 20.8mm.

The mean maximum temperature was 2.4°C higher than usual. 

During the second week of April, Malta experienced a warm spell caused by high pressure from the Sahara desert. This spell peaked on April 13, when the temperature soared to 29.1°C.

The April record, however, was in 1985 when a maximum temperature of 30.7°C was recorded.

Last month’s lowest minimum temperature dropped to 10.7°C. The lowest temperature on record for April is 4.4°C.

While April started off on quite a dull note, days became gradually brighter, with the month registering a total of 264.2 hours of sunshine - 20 hours of sunshine more than expected for this month.

Sea surface temperatures too were higher than usual. At 17.4°C, last month’s average sea surface temperature was the highest April average sea temperature since 1978.

The mean wind speed for April was 10.9 knots, with the most frequent direction being the East by North. While 50% of the time winds were light, the maximum gust registered was of 46 knots.