Despite heralding the start of winter, December in Malta proved to be dry and warmer than average, according to new data released by the Meteorological Office. 

In a statement on Friday, the Met Office said that the last month of the year had seen 52.5 mm of rainfall, some 32.3mm less than the climatic norm - which measures weather conditions over a 30-year average. 

The warm conditions also saw the mercury peaking at 23.4°C, while the lowest recorded temperature was 10.3°C. 

The warmer-than-average temperatures persisted throughout the entire month, including Christmastime and New Year's, with the average temperature for the entire month reaching 15.9°C, exceeding the climatic norm by 1.4°C.

While the second day of December was the warmest day of the month, with the maximum temperature rising to 23.4°C, the record is still held by December 5, 1963, when the temperature rose to 24.3°C.

On the other hand, the lowest temperature registered last December was 10.3°C on the eighth and sixteenth day of the month. 

This means that the last day of 2014 remains the coldest December night on record, when the temperature dropped to 2.8°C shortly before midnight.

Although warmer, last December was gloomier than the norm. Cloudy weather dominated the skies and only 125.5 hours of sunlight were measured, which was some 40.2 hours less than the climatic norm. 

December 12 was the sunniest day with 8.7 hours of sunshine recorded, while the eighteenth of the month was the dreariest, with the sky being shrouded in clouds that day.

Only one thunderstorm was recorded in December, but the same could not be said for occurrences of wind, with the number of windy days surpassing the climatic norm for December. The average wind force reached 9.9 knots, exceeding the norm by 0.8 knots. 

The strongest gust of wind blew from the Northwest by the West on the twenty-second of December, reaching 47 knots.