Hi Mate, even though it wouldn't be what you had hoped for the Maltese islands can be really spectacular during and after the rain, it is a great time to go out walking so if you follow this link http://www.visitmalta.com/en/what_to_do/wtd_landsports/wtd_land_countryside/wtd_land_countryside.html then you will see some really great walks in Gozo.

Regards
Sliema2

Thanks Sliema, that looks very useful.

I guess I'll keep an eye on the forecast over the next few days. It does seem a little confused so hopefully it'll turn out ok!

DD

Hi DD,

Like Sliema2 we go and would go to the Maltese Islands anytime of the year. First the bad news - Certainly during their Winter we've experienced torrential downpours of rain and when we visited in February this year, we had a terrific hail storm and it was deposited on the ground several inches deep in places!!! At this time of year it can be quite chilly as well.

Now the good news - We were there last month and even though most days were roasting hot, we did have a couple of odd showers, (one on Gozo while we were leaving the magnificent Ramla beach), that lasted a few minutes then out came the Sun and dried everything up! I reckon that if you get rain it will be similar to what we experienced since its not even been a month since we were there!

So you and your girlfriend go and have a great time, "fall in love with these magnificent Islands and its wonderful people" then let's know how bad the rain was, - that's if they've got the forecast right anyway!

Trev

The hail storm in February this year was a bit of a "freak"one, I only remember something similar happening just once before, since I moved over here.
This is a picture my son took at the university.

Hi ingliza,

I've also got some photos I took just outside Mosta on that day. You are right it was freak weather but what I didn't tell folks was that after this storm like an idiot, I drove through Birkirkara - or should I say river Birkirkara! There appears to be little land drainage on Maltese roads since I don't suppose they normally need it, so when all this ice melted low lying areas were flooded and the roads turned into rivers!!!

On that afternoon I remeber that the Sun came out dried everything up and it was glorious,

Trev

Hi Trev and Ingliza, that lunch time we were in Valletta on our last day preparing to go to Luqa to come home, and it went as black as night and pelted it down with sleet and rain, as we went through Msida it was totally flooded and the water was coming up to the height of the step on the bus, have to say as much as I always hate leaving Malta we were glad to get to the airport for a warm and a few beers before flying home that day.

Ciao 4 now
Sliema2

surely you all know it only rains at night time in Gozo ???

Blimey Mark,

The rain it never comes 'til after sundown, by morning time all clouds must disappear.............(remember that song)

I know Calypso's cave is on Gozo, but I didn't realise that Camelot was there as well. No wonder we can't find firm evidence of it being in the UK!!!

Trev

OK, OK. I exaggerate a little !

however, most of the rain in Gozo does seem to fall between 4am and 7am - something to do with being a (very) small island - Malta gets more rain, normally 20% more per year, and gets more in the daytime. Often in the daytime, black clouds reach Gozo first (westerly prevailing wind), but rise up with the heat from the land, and then rain on Malta

Last night - at 5am, it poured down for 15 minutes - maybe 10mm of rain , very impressive thunder and lightening - then nice and sunny ever since sunrise

Camelot was on Gozo, but was converted into apartments (or is that Fort Chambray)

Ahh! you see this adds confirmation to my theory. Mellieha gets less rain than any where else in the Maltese islands. The clouds empty their rain when they hit Gozo and then build up some more over northern Malta only to empty themselves again over mid/southern Malta.

Obviously the place to be!

same again last night - rained at 5am for 15 minutes, 10mm of rain, now nice sunny day

Hi Mark,

As an avid gardener, back permitting, it must be great to grow both flowers and veg on Gozo this end of the year. Do you know if things like tomatoes and cucumber grow easily through your Winter?

Trev

Hi Trev

the farmers do in greenhouses, but it gets a bit windy sometimes outside, and a night sometimes gets below 10C, so maybe a little cold ? At the moment, the fields are being ploughed, and wheat will be sown soon

Mark

On the subject of veg growing in Gozo - do you manage to grow runner beans over there? If so, when are they in season? Over here on the big island I can only ever buy the tasteless French beans. My greengrocer, a farming lady, from Mgarr, Malta swears they can be bought in Gozo, but I have never seen them.
You are spot on about the rain hitting Gozo about an hour before us over here, my son was over there last week for a few days, so I was getting daily weather reports. He said at breeze at night was so cool they didn't need fans or air conditioning at night, they stayed at a beautiful Qala farmhouse. Qala is on quite high ground isn't it?

yes, Qala is high up. Never tried runner beans - only really grown herbs the legal ones )

Last night, 5am-7am, Gozo had 55 mm of rain, 10% of our annual rainfall ! Rivers in the streets, and quite a bit on our downstairs floor - atleast it was clean water, and our well was empty !

Hi ingliza,

I love the taste of runner beans and always grow them here in the UK since they're so expensive in the shops. They are a semi tropical plants from I think S.America so I guess you could grow them easily in Malta. They need lots of water and good support. My sister who lives in Wales grows them in large grow bags. I don't think that's really as good as growing in the ground but she seems to get a decent crop. I thought that that might be a good idea if you are going to try to grow some in Malta since you wouldn't need much space and you could 'economically'
give them all the water they need. If you decide to have a go try to grow the stringless varieties,

Trev