December weather in Malta: similar temperatures, different rain and wind stories

Two similar temperature means concealed different winter months

December is an excellent month for learning why temperature is not the whole weather forecast. In the Mosta archive, the two years’ means are close enough to look almost interchangeable at a glance. Their wind and rain profiles quickly interrupt that impression.

The available December 2024 dates averaged 15.3°C, compared with 15.5°C for the full December 2025 series. Average daily highs were 16.9°C and 17.5°C; average daily lows were about 13.7°C in both. The general temperature background was similar, even though the day-to-day experience could vary.

The 2024 series covers December 4–31, or 28 complete days, while 2025 covers all 31. Restricting 2025 to the same dates still gives about 15.5°C. The 2024 point is Mosta only; the broader 2025 location table is additional context, rather than a claim that every island experienced the same winter conditions.

The warmest hours stayed close to twenty degrees

The highest hourly value at Mosta was 20.6°C on December 13, 2024 and 20.1°C on December 2, 2025. At the low end, the series reached 10.9°C on December 23, 2024 and 11.3°C on December 30, 2025.

Those endpoints give the month room for both a mild afternoon and a substantially cooler part of the day. The average daily highs of 16.9°C and 17.5°C are more useful general daytime references than the single warmest hour. The similar average daily lows also help explain why the monthly temperature means end up close.

For a December outing, check when the warmer hours occur rather than reading the maximum as a day-long condition. An early departure, a shaded stop and a late return do not share the same temperature simply because they share the same calendar date. The forecast is allowed to be mild at lunch and less enthusiastic about the evening.

2025’s closing section was cooler than its middle

The first ten days of December 2025 averaged about 15.8°C at Mosta. The middle ten averaged 16.0°C and the final eleven 14.8°C. The sharper reduction was towards the end, rather than a continuous cooling line throughout the month.

The 11.3°C minimum on December 30 fits that lower closing profile. The warmest hourly value, by contrast, occurred near the start on December 2. Looking at those dates together explains more about the changing month than the small difference between the two years’ overall means.

The available 2024 opening dates were also warmer than its closing ten-day group, but the first three dates are missing. Keep the chart’s shorter line attached to its actual coverage. It still shows a useful winter progression, including the lower December 23 value, without needing to invent an opening chapter the archive does not contain.

December 23, 2024 deserves a closer wind check

December 23, 2024 supplied the 19.4 m/s hourly wind maximum at Mosta, equivalent to Beaufort force 8. It also contains the lowest hourly temperature in that saved December window, 10.9°C later in the day. Those two features make it a more informative date than the monthly mean alone.

In 2025, December 20 supplied the largest complete daily rain amount, 23.5 mm. December 30 then provides the cooler temperature example, while December 2 supplies the warmest. The dates distribute the month’s main features across different parts of its daily and weekly schedule.

The archive links below let you open those examples at a relevant hour. They are a way to inspect the saved forecasts, not a claim about official storm or temperature records. Used that way, they make December much more concrete: a collection of distinct days rather than a seasonal adjective wrapped around a neat average.

2025 had a larger total and several wet intervals

The complete December 2025 Mosta rain series totalled 80.3 mm. Eleven dates reached at least 1 mm, and December 20’s 23.5 mm supplied about 29% of the month’s forecast amount. Rain was distributed across several episodes rather than almost entirely concentrated into one date.

The available December 4–31, 2024 window contained 40.8 mm, with ten dates reaching at least 1 mm. Its largest daily amount was 9.6 mm on December 4. That is a smaller covered-days amount, although the missing opening dates prevent a complete 2024 monthly total.

The two counts of qualifying wet days are fairly close, but the amounts differ substantially. That is another reason to read frequency and intensity together. A date with 1 mm and a date with more than 20 mm both count once in the simple wet-day measure. The rainfall bars show why they need not have the same practical effect on an outdoor plan.

2024 was the windier window, despite its lower rain subtotal

Average hourly wind speed at Mosta was 8.3 m/s in the available December 2024 dates, compared with 6.2 m/s in the full December 2025 series. Thirteen covered 2024 dates reached at least Beaufort force 6, against eleven in 2025.

The peak also differed: 19.4 m/s, or force 8, on December 23, 2024 compared with 13.3 m/s, or force 6, on December 16, 2025. The broadly similar temperature means therefore sit alongside quite different wind profiles.

For a coastal plan, that contrast can matter more than a few tenths of a degree in the average temperature. Read the wind direction and the relevant hours, then check the sea forecast for anything involving open water. A sheltered lunch can remain entirely plausible while an exposed route or crossing deserves a different decision. December has never agreed that all outdoor activities should receive the same answer.

The step down from November was clear

The full 2025 Mosta mean fell from 18.3°C in November to 15.5°C in December, a reduction of about 2.8°C. Average daily highs fell from 20.1°C to 17.5°C and average daily lows from 16.5°C to 13.7°C. That places December firmly at a lower point in the year’s temperature sequence.

The broader 2025 location means were 15.5°C at Sliema, 15.9°C at Marsaxlokk, 17.0°C at Victoria and 16.6°C at Comino. These are point forecasts with their own daily profiles; they should not be treated as a promise that a particular coast will always feel warmer or more comfortable.

January 2025’s 14.9°C mean is also useful as another winter example elsewhere in the series, but it is not the month following December 2025. Keeping the years attached matters. The archive gives us several winter views; it should not quietly rearrange the calendar in order to produce a smoother seasonal story.

Keep the exposed part of the itinerary easy to move

For a December visit, make the plan responsive to wind and rain timing as well as temperature. A sheltered outdoor stop, an indoor alternative you would genuinely enjoy and a route that can be shortened give you more options than one long exposed commitment.

Check the cooler hours if you are out early or returning late. Keep an adjustable layer available rather than expecting the day’s warmest number to follow you to dinner. If a sea excursion is involved, look at departure and return conditions separately and follow the operator’s current advice.

The two December series make a useful final chapter for this set of monthly articles. Similar average temperatures did not produce matching weather stories. The available 2024 period was windier, while 2025 carried a larger complete rain total. Winter’s character emerged from the combination. Read those parts together and December becomes easier to understand, even when your jacket appears to have become the most frequently photographed member of the travelling party.

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