May was 1.5 degrees celsius warmer than Malta’s 30-year climatological mean, the Meteorological Office at MIA said today.

It said that after May 14 the mean air temperature shot up to reach a maximum of 7 degrees above the norm on May 25. Contrary to what was being expected, relative humidity remained relatively low, resulting in high air temperatures during the period May 18-26.

The warmest day last month was the 26th, when the thermometer recording 32.2°C.

The warmest May day ever recorded was in 2006 when 35.3°C was reached on the 23rd.

The lowest temperature last month was 11.2°C and this was recorded late in the night on the 8th. The coolest May night since 1923 was that of the 4th of May 1970 with a low of 8.0°C.

The wind speed in May, averaging 6.3 knots (11.7 kilometres per hour), was 2.5 knots lower than the average speed for May since 1947.

The lowest grass-height temperature last month was 9.4°C on the 11th of the month. The lowest ever recorded grass-height temperature in May was 2°C on the 4th of the month in 1970.

The average sea surface temperature last month was 19.1°C. This was 1.6 degrees warmer than the average value for May since 1978.