Sparing a brief thought for my friends who are holidaying in Malta this
Christmas, I see from MaltaWeather.com that the island has now had more rain
since Sept 1st than I have recorded this calendar year. 4 month Malta average
477mm, 12 month West Molesey total 470mm (plus the little we had since 09h
today and whatever tmrw. brings).

Source:
http://www.maltaweather.com/rainfall.shtml

On September 15th rainfall amounts in Malta ranged from under 25mm around some
coasts to over 250mm. inland, so that had quite a big effect on the island
average on that day! This was mostly within just 7 hours. A short note on this
storm and a rainfall map will appear in a future issue of 'Weather', based on
data from MaltaWeather.com.

With a cut-off low being anchored close to Malta over the following few days,
plenty of thundery showers should keep edging the rainfall total upwards (a
more interesting prospect than for southern Britain?). The 12 month long term
average is around 530-560mm.

Julian

Julian Mayes,
West Molesey,
Surrey.