Winter weather is set to kick in with a shiver on Sunday, when temperatures will drop by around four degrees Celsius to reach levels below average for this time of year.

Temperatures will hover between highs of 12 degrees Celsius and lows of just eight degrees over the coming days. 

The cold snap will be accompanied by strong northerly winds reaching up to force 6 on the Beaufort Scale, meteorologists at the Malta International Airport weather station are forecasting.

Daytime temperatures are predicted to remain below 12 degrees right through to the end of the year before rising somewhat on January 1, when the strong winds will moderate and sunshine will return, lifting the mercury back up to highs of 15 degrees.

MIA weather station forecast.MIA weather station forecast.

But the colder nighttime weather expected from Sunday onwards is likely to continue through into the start of 2020, with temperatures never likely to rise beyond eight or nine degrees for the next week.

The chilly weather will be colder than the average for this time of year: according to climate records, the average temperatures in December and January are 14.4 and 12.8 degrees Celsius respectively, with average lows of 11.6 and 9.9 degrees.

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