The weather last month was characterised by above average temperatures, strong winds and unusually heavy rainfall, Malta Airport’s Meteorological Office said in a statement this morning.

It said the average air temperature was 22.5°C, exceeding the climate mean by one degree. High temperatures persisted for most of the month hitting a peak of 30.3°C on the 6th and eventually cooling down after the 21st. The maximum temperatures on 20 days were higher than the norm, averaging out to 25.7°C in the course of the month, 0.7°C above average.

The mean minimum temperature of 19.3°C was warmer than the climate norm of 18°C; while the mean sea temperature was a full 1.2°C higher than the 23.5°C norm. The coolest point in the month was registered on the night of the 22nd with a reading of 11.9°C.

October also witnessed high rainfall with 11 rainy days producing a total of 102.2mm of rain. This is considerably higher than the norm for October which is 75.6mm on average.

But despite the trend towards high temperatures October saw fewer hours of sunshine than normally expected, averaging out to 6.3 hours as opposed to the usual sevem. The brightest day was the 12th with 10.6 hours of sunshine, while the dullest day was the 27th and had no recorded sunshine.