MaltaMedia.com

Posted on December 25th, 2009

Christmas Day this year is the warmest ever since temperature records began at Balzan in 1987, according to www.maltaweather.com. Friday’s maximum temperature went up to 24.1°C, which is some eight degrees above average and also more than two degrees over the previous record. The previous warmest Christmas Day was in 1995 when the maximum temperature went up to 21.8°C.

The warm temperatures these past few days, including the past two consecutive days with maximum temperatures above 21°C, can be attributed to warm southerly winds bringing hot African air over the central Mediterranean.

These warm temperatures are expected to continue until Saturday as on Sunday some rain is expected and temperatures are expected to cool off somewhat although still remaining a bit above average. Gale Force northwesterly winds are also expected from late Sunday evening.

While Malta is experiencing one of the warmest Christmas periods on record, people have died in the rest of Europe due to unseasonably cold temperatures caused by very cold Arctic air affecting most of the continent. In fact, over 100 people have been killed in the cold snap across Europe with the heavy snowfall causing chaos on many of Europe’s roads.

For more weather forecasts for Malta one can visit www.maltaweather.com

Visit MaltaMedia.com’s Special Christmas Feature for a particular video about the Calends, or l-irwiegel, the traditional way of predicting the weather for the new year.