Strong north-westerly winds are expected to pick up from Monday night and last until Thursday, according to the Met Office.

The winds will result in rough seas along exposed, popular sandy beaches that include Golden Bay.

“A strong wind warning will be issued early tomorrow [Tuesday] morning advising that strong winds will affect the Maltese islands. More wind warnings are likely to follow in the coming days,” the Met Office said.

The wind is expected to start picking up overnight on Monday reaching northwest force five to six, and on Tuesday morning it will become west-northwest force six to seven.

On Wednesday, west-northwest winds force five to six winds are forecast to hit the island, while on Thursday the wind speed is expected to drop to force five.

The rest of the week will have light winds.

“Although it may not appear to be that sunny, the UV Index will be as high as 10 today and tomorrow. For the rest of the week, it will be at level nine,” the Met Office warned.

Throughout the week, days will be mainly sunny and windy.

Monday’s temperature peaked at 34°C, while the remaining days vary from 28°C to 30°C.

“This is caused by an area of low pressure that will cover Italy and the central Mediterranean… It is quite normal to have windy days in July, usually from the northwestern direction,” the Met Office said as it noted that the forecast may change throughout the week.

July last year was the hottest month ever recorded by the Met Office, whose records go back to 1922.

The month had a mean air temperature of 29.6°C. The previous record was set in August 1999, when the temperature had averaged 29.2°C.

July 2023 saw the maximum temperature peak at 42.7°C as a heatwave affected the Maltese islands. August 1999 still holds the record for the highest temperature of 43.8°C.