Farmers wake to ruin as violent hailstorm destroys crops across Rabat, Dingli

Updated 7.30pm

Farmers in Rabat and Dingli woke on Saturday morning to widespread devastation after a sudden hailstorm shredded crops and wiped out tens of thousands of euros’ worth of produce, prompting warnings of severe losses.

Malcolm Borg, president of the Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, said the way the storm developed was "one of the worst natural occurrences" for crops.

"When hailstones fall at that speed, they puncture the crops, especially the leafy ones, like cabbages, rendering them unfit to be sold," he told Times of Malta.

The unusually prolonged hailstorm battered entire fields or parts of them, leaving harvests ruined and some farmers facing a total loss of their produce, Borg said.

The biggest victims were leafy crops, which were punctured by the forceful hailstones.

Residents of Rabat and the surrounding areas woke up on Saturday to the very unusual sight of a thick blanket of ice covering streets, squares and fields.

Heavy hail rained overnight, leaving parked cars in Mtarfa effectively buried in hailstones up to the top of their tyres, and residents were forced to shovel hail to move the vehicles in the morning.

The sight excited many children who took to the streets in the morning to experience a feeling that Maltese rarely saw, as they ran around and played on the icy roads.

But this was a far cry from the devastation experienced by farmers who woke up to the ruins after months of hard labour.

Borg said the fields are usually brimming with staple produce this time of year, such as carrots, marrow, strawberries, cabbage, cauliflowers, and potatoes, and the leafy ones, especially, sustained a lot of damage from the forceful hail.

What was even worse is that the hailstorm was unusually prolonged, Borg said.

He said the farmers are now going through their produce to see what can be salvaged from the havoc. The rest will have to be discarded, and the process of replanting the produce will have to restart.

Borg estimates tens of thousands of euros worth of damage, a problem exacerbated by the fact that agricultural land is not covered by insurance in Malta.

Weather conditions are expected to improve for the rest of the weekend before turning more aggressive on Monday, with gale-force winds reaching up to Force 8 in speed forecast between Monday and Tuesday.

Agriculture Minister Anton Refalo expressed sympathy in a Facebook post, saying his "heart goes out" to farmers, urging those impacted by the hail to get in touch with the Agriconnect Offices.

"I know firsthand what it means to work a field, care for it every day and rely on it for your livelihood and that of your family."