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Valletta, the capital of Malta, sits on a rocky peninsula between two natural harbours on the northeast coast of the island, in the middle of the Mediterranean at approximately 35.90°N, 14.51°E. Surrounded entirely by sea, it has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) — hot, dry summers and exceptionally mild, wet winters — with abundant sunshine.
Summer, from June to September, is hot, dry and brilliantly sunny, with July and August the hottest — average highs around 31–32°C — tempered by sea breezes, though the scirocco blowing up from North Africa can push temperatures past 40°C in oppressive, humid bursts. Rain is essentially absent for months, and the sea stays warm well into autumn.
Winter, from December to February, is exceptionally mild — among the warmest in Europe — with January the coolest month, average highs around 16°C and mild nights near 10–11°C; frost is unknown. Most of the year's rain falls in these months, in short, heavy bursts, often accompanied by strong winds and rough seas, though sunshine remains plentiful between the fronts.
Valletta is dry, receiving only around 550–600 mm of rain a year, almost all of it between October and March in short, intense downpours, while the long summer is essentially rainless; Malta has no rivers or lakes and depends heavily on desalination for its water. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Malta's position in the middle of the Mediterranean gives Valletta some of the mildest winters and sunniest skies in Europe, with over 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. Its exposure is total: winter gales whip the harbours, and the humid scirocco from the Sahara can turn a summer day oppressive within hours. With no rivers, the island depends on winter rain and desalination alike.
To follow any single measurement in Valletta more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.