When to visit Malta.

If you're coming for one thing

Straight from the climate record, not a preference.

• The warmest sea

  August peaks at 27°C, and it is also the hottest month on land at 32°C. You are swimming in bathwater and sharing the bay with everyone else who read that.

• Swimming without the crowds

  The sea reaches 20°C or more in 7 months of the year, from May through November, not the three people assume. October still gets to 24°C, warmer than June's 23°C, long after the August queues have gone. The first and last of those months are the shoulders of it, so you are catching the warm end of May and the cooling end of November, not a guaranteed 20°C throughout.

• The driest possible week

  July averages 1mm across no rain days. Rain is genuinely not the risk in high summer; heat is.

• Cities, culture and no queues

  The wet months are the quiet ones. November is the wettest at 109mm, and the sea bottoms out in February at 14°C. In exchange, the cathedrals, the Three Cities and Mdina are yours to walk alone, and it rarely gets properly cold.

The year in numbers

Averages from Malta Met Office records. Sea is the month's range, not a single figure.

Sea temperatures in teal reach 20°C or more, which is where most visitors find it comfortable without a wetsuit.

Every month, in one line

What each month is actually like, and who it suits.

• Malta in January

  16°C · sea 16°C

  Malta at its most local. Quiet cities, crisp light, and weather the rest of Europe only dreams about in winter.

• Malta in February

  16°C · sea 15°C

  Carnival, almond blossoms, and the last of the winter quiet before the season starts to stir.

• Malta in March

  18°C · sea 16°C

  The island wakes up. Warmth returns, the countryside is still green, and the crowds have not yet arrived.

• Malta in April

  20°C · sea 17°C

  The greenest you'll ever see Malta. A month of cities and countryside at their best.

• Malta in May

  24°C · sea 20°C

  Malta's sweet spot. Warm enough to swim by late month, dry enough for anything outdoors, and not yet as crowded as peak summer.

• Malta in June

  28°C · sea 23°C

  Summer properly arrives. Swimmable sea, warm evenings, festa fireworks, and days long enough for anything.

• Malta in July

  31°C · sea 25°C

  Peak summer. Hot, bright, busy, and unapologetically Mediterranean.

• Malta in August

  32°C · sea 27°C

  Peak of peak. Hot, crowded, festive. Malta's summer at its most intense.

• Malta in September

  28°C · sea 26°C

  Summer without the edge. Warmest sea of the year, longer evenings, and crowds easing.

• Malta in October

  25°C · sea 24°C

  Warm, lively, and surprisingly full. Malta's shoulder season is busier than most people assume.

• Malta in November

  21°C · sea 21°C

  The air cools, the rain returns, and Malta slips into a quieter, more cultural rhythm.

• Malta in December

  18°C · sea 17°C

  Lights, markets, mild weather, and Malta at its most atmospheric. The Mediterranean's most underrated Christmas.