Sweltering June saw above average air and sea temperatures

The sweltering heat in June was no perception with the average air and sea temperatures shooting well above the norm, data released by the Meteorological Office shows.

Malta International Airport’s Met Office said the average maximum air temperature in June at 31°C was 2.4°C higher than the norm and the average sea surface temperature surpassed the monthly norm of 21.5°C by 1.9°C.

The last day of June also set a new record for the maximum temperature ever recorded since 1923 for the month when the mercury hit a high of 41.5°C.

The Met Office said that a heatwave stretched from 20 June until 1 July that plunged the Maltese islands right into the summer season. Hot air coming from the Sahara Desert was trapped by a high-pressure system over the central Mediterranean, causing the heatwave.

But June had less sun than average with 294 hours of sunshine recorded, 34 hours short of the monthly sunshine quota of 328 hours.

This happened because 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.

Having clocked up just two hours of sunshine, 2 June was the month’s dullest and only wet day. Precipitation measured on the day amounted to a paltry 0.8mm, making the month markedly drier than the norm of 4mm.

June was also slightly calmer than expected, having maintained a mean wind speed that was 0.2 knots below the monthly norm of 7.6 knots.

But despite sweltering heat, meteorological records for the month show that June 2019 remained the hottest June in the past five years, with a mean maximum temperature of 31.4°C.