No Medicane: Met Office calms storm fears

Fears of a ‘Mediterranean hurricane’ hitting Malta have been calmed by Malta’s Met Office, with forecasters predicting wet and very windy weather but nothing requiring red warnings. 

Concerns about a massive gregale storm reaching Malta were sparked by widespread flooding in Sicily and southern Italy over the past days. 

Locally, forecasters were predicting force 7 northeasterly winds, heavy rain and possibly hail between Wednesday and Thursday night. 

But while a low pressure system to the south of Malta will continue over the coming days, it will not lead to the tropical storm-like conditions that many had feared. 

A Mediterranean hurricane, or ‘Medicane’, is characterised by torrential rain and winds reaching speeds of up to 54 knots. The current low pressure system does not qualify as one. A Medicane could possibly develop by Friday, the Met Office said, but it will be positioned over the Ionian Sea. 

Strong winds, less rain

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the Met Office said that the heaviest rainfall of the week had already passed, having occurred overnight between Monday and Tuesday. 

East-northeasterly winds will be “rather strong to strong” later on Wednesday,...