The planet had its hottest June on record last month, with ocean warming strengthened by climate change and the El Nino weather pattern, the European Union's climate monitor said Thursday.
"The month was the warmest June globally at just over 0.5 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, exceeding June 2019 -– the previous record -– by a substantial margin," the EU monitoring service Copernicus said in a statement.
Malta had warmer than average temperatures in June, July and August last year but June was comparatively mild this year with the mercury only rising to usual summer levels in the last part of the month.
The highest June temperature ever recorded was in 2021, when Malta experienced two record-breaking days of heat in a row. Temperatures rose to a blistering 41.5 on June 30 of that year.