The highest temperature was 32.2 °C, which was recorded on 3 September. However the last five days of the month were appreciably cooler, with the temperature during those days reaching only 24.9°C.

The maximum September temperature ever recorded by the Malta International Airport’s Meterorological Office since 1947 was 37.4 °C on 26 September 1990.

An average night-time temperatures of 19.8° C last month was also lower than average, with the chilliest night being that of 26 and 27 September, when just before dawn the mercury crept down to 15°C.

The lowest September temperature ever reached at the airport was 13.2°C on 22 September 1969.

The average wind speed last month was 5.6 knots (or 6.4 mph or 10.4 kilometres per hour) – which is 24 per cent calmer than normal.

For 91 per cent of the time the wind during the month was less than 10 knots.

The strongest wind gust observed was 29 knots (or 33 mph or 54 kilometres per hour) on 17 September and 24 September, when the wind blew from the west and the northwest respectively.

The most frequent wind direction last month was the west northwest.

A weak tornado, generated by a medium sized cumulonimbus, or thundercloud, was observed on the west part of the island late in the afternoon of Wednesday, 8 September.

Malta had a total of 79.8 millimetres of rain last month. The average September rainfall is 49.9 millimetres – incidentally slightly more than this amount fell in about an hour late in the evening of 19 September.

On average, each day had 8.8 hours of sunshine. However, the sunniest day was 7 September with 11.3 hours and the dullest was 18 September, when the sun failed to make an appearance.

The Meteorological Office of Malta International Airport is Malta’s National Weather Service, accredited to the World Meteorological Organisation, and only the forecasts it issues and the records kept there are official. Constantly updated information direct from seven automatic weather stations situated around Malta and Gozo, together with information from the airport weather station, a five-day forecast, a detailed and constantly updated three-day forecast for mariners, the UV index, the heat stress index, Doppler weather radar and satellite infra-red images are available on the office’s website www.maltairport.com/weather