Updated 3.30pm

Gozo's windswept Sannat bore the brunt of weather damage on Sunday night, as howling winds lashed Malta and Gozo.

One of Sannat's largest pine trees was badly damaged in the storm.One of Sannat's largest pine trees was badly damaged in the storm.

Malta and Gozo experienced gale force south-easterly winds reaching speeds of up to 61 knots - the equivalent of more than 30 metres per second - on Sunday night. 

The highest average hourly wind speed recorded was of 36 knots, or more than 18 metres per second, between 8pm and 9pm in Valletta. 

Strong winds caused significant damage to an old Norfolk pine tree [Awrikarja kbira] in the town's St Margarita square, local council secretary Jason Curmi told Times of Malta.

The tree, which is among Gozo's biggest and was already weak, lost several large branches to the strong winds and its long-term survival now hangs in the balance. 

Two boundary walls also failed to hold up in the violent weather and collapsed, with limestone bricks from one of the walls on Ras in-Newwiela causing significant damage to a car parked right by the wall and blocking the street entirely. Another wall on Triq it-Tempju tal-Imramma also collapsed in the high winds. 

Sannat was not the only town badly hit by inclement weather: a bus stop in Mġarr ended up knocked over, while in St Julian's, a Times of Malta reader had a narrow escape when a sheet of corrugated iron and a water tank lid landed just metres from where she and her dog were standing. 

"The lid had been ripped off from our building roof and landed right on the spot where I had been standing clearing my eyes a few seconds earlier," she said. "It wouldn't have killed me, but it might have caused some damage, especially to my dog!"

Further inland, another water tank lid brought a driver on the Mrieħel bypass within a whisker of a crash. 

"Luckily," they wrote on Facebook, the heavy lid hit the car's body, "and not my windscreen." 

And if the Sunday night gusts failed to bowl you over, the weather on Tuesday night just might: average wind speeds are expected to reach 20 knots between Tuesday and Wednesday, becoming gusty, thundery and rainy at times, a spokesperson at Malta International Airport said. 

Did strong winds damage any of your property? Get in touch at mynews@timesofmalta.com

A bus stop in Mġarr ended up the worse for wear. Photo: Matthew MirabelliA bus stop in Mġarr ended up the worse for wear. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Winds sent a corrugated iron sheet flying from scaffolding at a St Julian's construction site.Winds sent a corrugated iron sheet flying from scaffolding at a St Julian's construction site.

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