Updated 5.30pm

Locals woke up to a blustery Easter Sunday this year, with winds howling across the country at speeds which at times reached gale force strengths.

The easterly and southeasterly winds continued throughout the day and the Malta International Airport meteorological office warned mariners that they should expect winds of up to force 8 on the Beaufort scale and very rough seas until at least 10pm on Sunday.

Gusts are expected to be especially strong on Sunday night and early on Monday morning, reaching speeds of up to 20 metres per second. 

Strong winds are expected to persist on Monday before dying down to more moderate levels on Tuesday. 

 

Dust on the horizon

High winds could lead to some dusty days: models created by meteorologists at the University of Athens predict large amounts of dust from the Sahara to be blown up across the central Mediterranean over the coming days.

The massive dust cloud – caused by a depression over Algeria - could reach as far north as the UK and Ireland, the models suggest.

Sand from Għadira blown to road

On Sunday afternoon, the police issued a warning on their Facebook page advising motorists to drive cautiously as sand from Għadira Bay was blown on the road leading to Mellieħa.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.