February this year has gone down as the driest since the Met Office started compiling data in 1923.

With a mere 0.6mm of rain – registered on the fifth day – February 2020 has surpassed that of 2016 to become the driest ever on record. That year, the Met Office had registered 2.4mm of rain.

In the almost 100 years since the rainfall data started being kept, the month of February had always been one of the wettest months of the year, with the average rainfall between 1981 and 2010 being 56.9mm.

February is even proverbially recognised as a wet month, as acknowledged in the Maltese saying “Frar ifawwar il-bjar” (in February, wells overflow with water).

Before 2016, the driest February was recorded in 1957 when 3.5mm of rain was registered. It had also not rained much in 1990, when there had been only 4.7mm of rainfall.

Meteorological officer Saviour Zerafa said the amount of rain during this year’s exceptionally dry February is more comparable to the numbers usually registered during the summer months.

In fact, climate averages showed the amount of rain that fell last month was almost as much as is usually registered in July, when 0.2mm of rain is recorded, Zerafa said.

Even June and August tend to be wetter – with averages records of 4mm and 5.6mm, respectively.

The last thing farmers need is more lack of water

On whether the winter drought suggested a harsh summer could be on its way, Zerafa said the two were not linked in any way and it was too early to say what the warmer months will be like.

“The reason behind February being so dry was extensive high pressure that remained almost stationary over the Mediterranean region and other parts of Europe.

“High pressure is synonymous with stable conditions. Therefore, this can be linked to increasing global temperatures, and disruptions of regional-local weather patterns,” Zerafa said.

Apart from being the driest, last month was also sunnier than usual.

While the average hours of sunshine usually total around 192.9 hours, this year the Met Office registered 238.7 hours of sunny periods.

There were also no days with thunder and only one hail occurrence observed on February 5, the same daythe single instance of rain was registered.

While the Meteorological Office attributed the lack of rain to high pressure over the island, anxious farmers have blamed climate change. They fear this will be their death knell.

Lobby group Għaqda Bdiewa Attivi head Malcolm Borg described the situation as “dire”, saying the agricultural sector already had so many challenges that the last thing farmers need is more lack of water.

“We’re now bracing ourselves for a very hot summer with very hot temperatures and which would therefore mean we would require more water,” Borg said.

“We need some human intervention and new water [polished water] is a lifeline that we need to work on with more urgency than before.”