June saw the highest temperatures in almost 100 years according to new data from the MET office.
Maximum temperatures of 41.5°C set a new record as the highest temperature ever registered since records officially started being kept in 1923. Similar temperatures had only been experienced one other time in June, on June 13, 1997. On that occasion, the temperature had reached a maximum of 40.1°C.
A look at meteorological records for the month shows that June 2019 remains the hottest June in the past five years, with a mean maximum temperature of 31.4°C. Despite June 2021 seeing the hottest temperatures, it was not the hottest month ever recorded by the Met Office, with a mean temperature of 31.0°C.
A 12-day heatwave was also recorded in June, the longest June heatwave to hit Malta in at least a decade. This June’s mean maximum air temperature was 2.4°C higher than the norm whilst being less sunny than average with 294 hours of sunshine recorded.
Solace was sparsely found by those attempting to escape to the beach as the sea surface temperature too was considerably higher than expected at this time of year, surpassing the monthly norm of 21.5°C by 1.9°C.
Hazy weather dominated the latter part of the month, as the presence of dust in suspension and high-level clouds on multiple occasions obscured the sun. In fact, June was not as sunny as expected, with the total hours of sunshine recorded falling 34 hours short of the monthly sunshine quota of 328 hours.
June 2 was the month’s dullest and only wet day, the Met Office measuring 0.8mm of precipitation during the month. This has left considerable impacts on the Maltese environment, with several fires breaking out in fields following fireworks displays.
Did you feel the heat?