Strong winds forecast over Palm Sunday weekend, Met Office says

Strong winds and occasional showers are expected to affect the Maltese Islands over Palm Sunday weekend, the Meteorological Office has forecast.

The warning comes as holy pilgrimages marking the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows are set to take place on Friday in several localities across Malta and Gozo.

"Weather conditions are expected to be dominated by strong West-Northwest winds, which will begin strengthening overnight, reaching Force 7 before gradually easing to Force 5 to 6 in the afternoon. Rain showers are possible throughout the day," the Meteorological Office said.

Conditions on Saturday are expected to be similar, with strong to rather strong Northwesterly winds forecast at Force 5 to 6. Winds are expected to increase to Force 6 during the afternoon, then ease again overnight into Sunday.

Some relief is expected by Palm Sunday itself, with the day forecast to be partly cloudy. Northwesterly winds are expected to range between Force 5 and 6, becoming strong to rather strong by the evening, offering better conditions for localities holding their first Good Friday processions.

Looking ahead, the Met Office suggests that windy weather may persist into the early days of Holy Week, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday. A more detailed forecast for Good Friday and Easter Sunday will be released soon.

Separately, the Meteorological Office has reported that February was both drier and warmer than the climatic norm, despite the month typically being associated with rain.

Only 17.2mm of rainfall was recorded during the month, which is 51.8mm below the monthly average. No thunderstorms were recorded over the Maltese Islands, whereas around three are typically expected during February.

The month's average temperature was 14.7°C, 2.1°C above normal. The highest was 20.4°C on 6 February, and the coldest night was 23 February at 9.0°C.

Wind conditions differed, as February was windier than usual, with an average of 12.8 knots compared with the norm of 9.4 knots. The strongest gust, 52 knots, was on 12 February from the west.