Unless you’ve been hiding indoors with the windows boarded up, you’ve probably noticed that Malta and Gozo are experiencing some seriously bizarre weather, with strong, dusty winds and hazy skies.

The culprit is a massive weather system stretching from Russia to Mali, carrying fine desert dust as far as Scandinavia. Even the UK saw dusty rain falling from the sky! But the real surprise came last night, when temperatures shot up by a staggering 10°C in just a few minutes, accompanied by a rapid increase in wind speed.

Just after 6:30 PM, parts of the Maltese Islands - particularly Gozo - witnessed what is known as a heat burst. The temperature rocketed from 16.9°C to 26.8°C within a few minutes, while humidity levels plunged from a muggy 92% to a dry 40%. At the same time, the wind went from calm to gale-force in mere moments, and atmospheric pressure spiked. This extreme event repeated itself at least three times throughout the evening before gradually subsiding.

Heat bursts are rare but tend to occur at night in late spring. They happen when a dying thunderstorm collapses, sending a dense pocket of dry air plummeting toward the ground. As this air sinks, it gets compressed, heats up rapidly, and spreads out in powerful, warm gusts - almost like someone blowing forcefully on a puddle of water.

Last night's heat burst was triggered by an isolated thunderstorm embedded in a cut-off low-pressure system moving across the central Mediterranean. As the storm weakened, its clouds lifted, leaving behind a sinking layer of air that became hotter and drier on its way down. The result was a sudden, dramatic surge in temperature and wind speed.

Thankfully, the dusty skies covering the islands should clear by Wednesday, so fingers crossed!

Did you feel last night's heat bursts?