Malta has experienced its wettest October in 64 years and the constant rainfall has come as a welcome relief to farmers after a summer of record-breaking heatwaves.

Data from the Met Office showed a total amount of 246.2mm of rainwater fell last month, the wettest since 1957 when 254.2mm was registered.

The wettest October on record was in 1951, with 476.5mm of rainfall.

Malcolm Borg, the coordinator of Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi, said farmers had feared the ‘Medicane’ storm that hammered Sicily last week but missed Malta, which instead had more than a week of constant rain.                              

“All the farmers I spoke to describe this weather as a ‘barka minn Alla’ (a blessing from God),” he said.                              

Scientists warn that climate change is increasing the risk of more extreme weather and Malta’s farmers had to cope with a summer of blistering temperatures and intense heatwaves that scorched tomatoes, olives, peppers and pumpkins.

As a result, Borg said the change in weather has been positive for farmers.     

“The worst thing is flash rainfall when there is a lot of rain in a short period of time,” he explained.

“But what we saw last week was that the rain was constant and not intense, which meant the whole soil profile had time to really absorb the water,” he added.

Borg said that underground aquifers were refilled, meaning farmers have more freshwater stored for the coming winter months, which have become drier in more recent years.                             

“It was good on so many levels and farmers are extremely happy with this type of rain and weather.”                              

More than 50mm of rain in one day

Ten times as much rainfall fell on the island last month than in October 2020 (24.8mm), the national weather service said.                               

The single wettest day was on October 25, when 51.6mm was recorded. Much of the rainfall happened towards the end of the month, with 132.6mm of rain measured between October 25 and October 31.                              

Borg said farmers became worried when the Met Office issued warnings of a gregale storm but, in the end, only one Gozitan farmer reported damage to his greenhouse due to strong winds.                              

“This is just one case, unlike what we saw back in February 2019, when farmers experienced a huge level of damage to their crops and infrastructure,” Borg said.                               

In 2019, as gale-force winds of 101km per hour battered the island, farmers’ fields were wrecked, with some estimated damages of more than €50,000. The following year, farmers who lost their crops because of bad weather received compensation from the government.                                                      

“If the storm did hit Malta, there would have been nothing farmers could have done, just like what happened in 2019. Indeed, the farmers’ investment is always at the mercy of the weather.”                              

He said that the change in climate patterns and extreme weather events are a constant concern for farmers.                             

“The fact that the storms like the one in Sicily are becoming more probable and are increasing in frequency is alarming and will be challenging to live through,” he said.                              

The weather is expected to dry up over the next few days and temperatures are forecast to rise as well, climbing to as high as 28 degrees Celsius.  

“No further precipitation is forecast for the coming days,” a Met Office spokesperson said.           

Light to moderate winds are forecast until midweek, increasing to Force 5 by tomorrow night and dying down again to Force 3 by Thursday afternoon.         

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