The sun is shining and temperatures are rising – but as these mesmerising aerial photographs show, hotel pools are empty due to the coronavirus.

These scenes, just ahead of the usually busy summer season, were captured by Mark Cassar, who generally focuses on movie stills, corporate and wedding imagery.

His drone photographs portray the effect of the pandemic on the tourism industry, particularly on large hotels.

The set includes the Corinthia in St George’s Bay, the db Seabank Resort and spa and the Westin Dragonara Resort.

Cassar was himself “shocked” by scenes of vast abandoned pool areas and grounds, usually teeming with life in these warmer weeks as summer approaches.

“The current coronavirus situation has really hit me,” he said. “When I heard the hotels were closing indefinitely, that is when I knew things were serious.” And that was when he took to his camera to document the surreal situation.

Cassar zoomed in on about 30 hotels – mostly the more familiar four- and five-star properties, with pools and other outdoor amenities.

While a handful of the pools, such as at the Phoenicia, wait until June to open, they would all at this time of year have sunbathers perched on loungers nearby.

“I was just trying to capture this time in history because the scenario of closed hotels and no tourists never seemed possible to me,” said Cassar.

He was one of the first photographers in Malta to use a drone and is now on his ninth, but he generally steers away from these jobs because he prefers to fly away from the crowds.

Choosing to shoot Malta’s hotels in the spring of 2020 has certainly allowed him to do just that. But he said he plans to return to do the same shot next year, “in the hope that we can see change”.