Sporadic showers, strong winds and a faulty cash machine put a damper on the euro celebrations but nothing could erase the smile of satisfaction from the face of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi last night.
"This is one of the biggest achievements. It wasn't easy, but I was always confident we'd make it," he told The Times, minutes after withdrawing crisp euro notes from a Bank of Valletta ATM at the Valletta Waterfront.
BOV had rolled out the red carpet and prepared a mobile ATM just outside its branch specifically for the occasion, but no amount of detailed groundwork could prepare the team for the anti-climax.
At 12.07 a.m., after a scant medley of fireworks brightened the dark skies, Dr Gonzi was ready with his commemorative BOV Platinum card to symbolically register the historic moment, but the machine stubbornly kept saying: "Technical fault... unable to dispense money."
Immediately the jokes started circulating that Dr Gonzi's salary had not been deposited. After more than three failed attempts, they moved a few metres to another cash machine outside the branch - it worked and the champagne flowed.
Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech, Central Bank Governor Michael Bonello and Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg were among the first to withdraw euro notes.
A beaming Dr Gonzi, accompanied by his wife Kate, described the introduction of the new currency as a milestone, which the government had worked extremely hard to achieve.
"It was a very ambitious target we set three years ago, and Malta, as the smallest country in the EU, should feel as proud as the largest country with this achievement," he said.
Dr Gonzi admitted there were difficult times, but he trusted the potential of the Maltese who showed they could rise to the occasion when faced with a challenge.
"This is not about a coin, but about the creation of new jobs. I knew we had a high price to pay when we set out to reach our objectives," he said.
"There were difficult decisions I had to take in my first year of premiership, which were not popular, but we needed to get the economy back on track. Finally the results speak for themselves," he said, in between shaking hands with well-wishers.
A sizeable crowd gathered around the BOV branch just before the stroke of midnight but the rain and strong northeast winds, reaching force five to six, put many people off from venturing outdoors.
By yesterday morning announcements were made that all the outdoor activities and concerts would be moved inside, and would only be able to accommodate people on a first come, first served basis.
While some 1,400 people packed the main hall of the Mediterranean Conference Centre, a couple hundred showed up for Nafra and the Cypriot folk act. The acts by local bands and artists coupled with the G7 party at the Powerhouse, along the Waterfront, were very well attended and most popular among the younger generation.
While many huddled in warm coats, a few courageous girls donned their sparkly short dresses, and the majority sought shelter from the cold and whiplash rain in restaurants, which had long queues of hopefuls waiting to get in.
Despite these odds, the public still mustered the energy to shout out the countdown and welcome 2008 with cheers and applause, just as the fireworks took off and balloons careened wildly overhead.
After the commemorative celebrations, crowds started to dwindle, preferring to celebrate the New Year inside and begin to warm up to the island's new currency.
Meanwhile, Dr Gonzi and the President of Cyprus, which also adopted the euro last night, exchanged congulatory messages.
President Tassos Papadopoulos told the Prime Minister that the people of Malta can feel justifiably proud for this achievement which required a devoted and consistent effort by both the government and society.
Dr Gonzi wrote that "this historic occasion marks another major step in the European 'homecoming' of both Cyprus and Malta".