August was slightly warmer than the norm, but Malta did not see records broken, as was the case in several European countries last month.

The MIA Met Office said the average air temperature in August reached 28.2°C, one degree warmer than the climate norm. The mean sea surface temperature was also one degree warmer than the climate norm, reaching 27.3°C.

The first few days of the month were characterised by pleasant temperatures, which dropped to a minimum of 21.8°C on August 6. The maximum temperature for August was registered just before the Santa Maria holidays, when the mercury hit 36°C on the 13th of the month.

The sun was out in full force the following week, shining for 13.2 hours on the 18th and 19th of August, making these the brightest days of the month.

One of the contributors to warmer-than-average temperatures was August’s lack of rainfall. Only trace amounts of precipitation were measured, on August 29, when only 1.2 hours of sunshine were recorded, making it the dullest day of the month.

The month’s mean wind speed only reached 6 knots; half a knot calmer than the
norm.

Averaging at 0.9 oktas, the cloud cover for August was relatively lighter than the expected 1.2 oktas, thus contributing to a 19.3 hour-increase in sunshine hours over the same month in 2018, when only 312.1 hours of sunshine were recorded. Nonetheless, the total of 331.4 hours of sunshine recorded
throughout the month still fell slightly short of the monthly average of 335.3 hours.