Many were those who complained about the excessive heat last month and the Meteorological Office confirmed yesterday that the month of June was one of the hottest since 1922, when the Met. Office started keeping records for climatological purposes.

Last month’s mean temperature of 24.8 degrees Celsius was 1.6 degrees warmer than the average temperature for June. So far, June 2003 was the warmest, with a mean temperature of 26.1 degrees Celsius, while June 1933 and June 1967 were the coolest, with a mean of 20.9 degrees Celsius.

An average high of 29.4 degrees Celsius was registered throughout last month and the mercury rose above 35 degrees on five consecutive days – between 21 and 26 June. This would be the closest scenario to what is commonly known as a “heat wave”.

Last year, there were practically nine days in a row when the highest temperature was recorded to be above 35 degrees.

The mercury hit a high of 39.5 degrees on Monday 25 June and hotter days during the month of June were only experienced on two other occasions. A high of 40.1 degrees was recorded on 13 June 1997 and the following year, a high of 39.7 degrees was registered on 30 June 1998.

Nights throughout last month were 1.3 degrees warmer than the norm, with an average temperature of 20.3 degrees Celsius being registered.

The warmest night was between 25 and 26 June, when, at dawn, the mercury’s lowest point was 23.8 degrees. That night was also the warmest June night over the past 30 years.

The coolest night last month was found to be that between 13 and 14 June, with a minimum temperature of 14 degrees being registered.

The Met. Office recorded the lowest temperature for the month of June on 7 June 1975, when a low of 12.6 degrees was registered.

Last month was also the wettest June in the Met. Office’s 85-year history. There were two episodes of heavy rainfall – on 3 June between 2am and 8am, 11.2 millimetres of rainfall were measured at Malta International Airport, while a total of 63.4 millimetres was measured on cloudy 4 June.

However, rainfall on 4 June did not occur in the same manner across Malta and Gozo, in fact it hardly rained in Gozo on that day, in heavy contrast with certain localities in Malta.

As regards wind speed, an average of 5.9 knots per hour was registered at Malta International Airport last month. This could be considered as rather sluggish since the wind kept within the light to moderate speed bracket 99 per cent of the time.