October was drier than usual, according to the meteorological office, which on Friday warned of a thundery weekend.

Last month, the air temperature hovered around 20°C and the islands basked in 226 hours of sunshine. Throughout October, the temperature ranged between 13.1°C and 30.4°C.

While the mean air temperature was 0.7°C lower than the norm, the mean sea temperature surpassed the average of 23.5°C by 1.1°C.

The brightest day of the month clocked 10.5 hours of sunshine, while October 12 saw just 0.2 hours of sunshine. 

The day was also the wettest, producing 11mm of rainfall, and one of four thundery days reported in October.

Total precipitation amounted to 24.8mm, significantly less than the 75.6mm expected at this time of the year. 

Meanwhile, a mean wind speed of 8.7 knots was recorded by the office, with a maximum gust of 34 knots blowing from a west by north direction on 13 October. 

Weekend weather outlook

While November weather has been generally good so far, thundery showers are forecast for the coming days and air temperatures are expected to range between 14°C and 19°C.

The weekend is expected to be rather windy, with force four to five winds from the southwest becoming force three from a southeasterly direction forecast for Saturday, and force three to four southeasterly winds forecast for Sunday.