Freezing wind from Siberia to hit Malta on Valentine's Day

A polar vortex, stretching across Europe, is raging towards Malta and is expected to bring extremely low temperatures over the coming days.

The Meteorological Office at Malta International Airport is forecasting temperatures as low as 4 degrees Celsius at night, which would feel like 0 degrees Celsius.

Saturday is forecast to be partly cloudy in the morning, becoming rather cloudy with isolated showers. Strong westerly winds are expected to pick up speed during the day to reach Force 6-7 and change direction by evening.

This shift to a northwesterly direction is expected to lead to a considerable drop in temperature overnight.

Valentine’s Day on Sunday is expected to bring with it very cold temperatures. The forecast indicates a low of between 4 and 5 degress Celsius, and a high of 12 degrees. The temperature will feel like 9 degrees during the day and around 0 degrees during the night. 

These low temperatures are expected to persist into the first half of the week, with very cold northerly winds set to blow until Wednesday.

The cold arctic air mass is set to intensify and extend towards most of Europe, as it sweeps through the Balkans and in the Mediterranean, reaching as far south as Libya and Egypt.

In previous years, the average temperature recorded in Malta throughout the month of February was that of 16 degrees Celsius with the lowest reaching 9 degrees Celsius.
The lowest temperature ever recorded in Malta was 1.4 degrees Celsius in 1981.