Last month's average air temperature of 14.1°C exceeded the climate norm by 0.3°C, the Meteorological Office said.

The Met Office said in a statement this morning that the average temperature between December 1 and 7 was well above the norm of 13.8°C.

But between December 18 and 31 the average temperature registered a downward trend.

The highest temperature recorded last month was 20.1°C on the first. The highest ever recorded in December since 1947 was 24.3°C on December 2, 1963.

The lowest temperature last December was 6.6°C on December 20. The coolest December night since 1947 was December 22, 1967 with a low of 3.6°C.

The average sea surface temperature was 18.6°C. This is 1.5°C higher than the average value for December.

The mean relative humidity last month was 76 per cent which is lower than the 30-year mean climate average of 80%.

Last month 72.8mm of rainfall was recorded at Malta International Airport, which is less than the climate norm of 112.2mm.

There were three days when thunderstorm was heard at the Malta Airport MetOffice and these were on the 21, 29 and 30. The norm thunderstorms days for December is five.

December saw an average of five hours and 54 minutes of sunshine a day, 54 minutes more than the December norm.

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