Met Office issues orange alert: very strong wind and heavy showers expected

Malta’s east coast will be battered by strong wind over the next couple of days with the Met Office at Malta International Airport issuing an orange alert.

The weather is expected to see moderate to heavy showers that could be accompanied by thunder as the lowest temperature drops to 16 Celsius.

The East-Northeast wind will be strong over the Maltese islands, reaching Force 6 and 7 later on Wednesday and persisting throughout Thursday and possibly Friday.

The bad weather is the result of a stationary low-pressure system to the south-east of Malta that is causing a hurricane, also known as a Medicane, in the centrel Mediterranean.

According to weather page Windfinder, the eye of the hurricane is expected to move close to Malta’s east coast on Thursday.

Severe weather in neighbouring Sicily has left two people dead and entire areas flooded as a result of torrential rainfall. The regional civil protection said that the amount of rain that fell in Sicily over 48 hours was equivalent to a whole year’s rainfall. Schools in Catania have closed and commercial activity has been suspended with only essential outlets open.