After quite the unusually cool May, June really turned up the heat this year with that scorching heatwave, making it the hottest recorded month since 1923! Uwejja? Mela!
The first heatwave hit the Maltese islands between the 8th and 10th June, with temps hitting a blistering 37.8°C on the 9th, making it the hottest day of the month this year. The two-day heatwave, while still quite the scorcher, was just about bearable and we thought it would end there. But, boy, were we wrong.
The heatwave came and went but more was in store for our islands. Two warms spells baked our islands to a crisp, with average temperatures being 5°C higher than the norm. The lowest temperature of the period registered at 14.6°C. Damn…
The month of June, according to the Met Office was not only warmer, but drier than usual, having no precipitation measured during this month, making it one of the only four months in the past 70 years not to record any rainfall.
And, as if the heat weren't enough, the sun shone brightly for 349.9 hours throughout the past month, surpassing the climate norm by almost 22 hours. The brightest day was 3rd June, recording 13.1 hours of sunshine, while the dullest day was 15th June, recording just 7.4 hours.