Humidity
A fact of life in Malta: the humidity.
Sometimes a towel will not be dry even 24 hours after using it. We have to change the hand towel in the bathroom almost every day. Even the poor tumble-dryer takes as long as two hours to dry a load of wet clothes. A knife that I have had for over ten years and still looked new has begun to rust in the couple of months since I arrived here.
Our shower has a little leak, so a towel must be placed on the floor in front of it to soak up the water. Every day I put this towel out in the balcony, hoping that it dries by the next day. As it gets colder, I might have to find a new system.
And it is getting colder. Not terribly, but slowly we are getting there. Currently it is a very pleasant mid-season, not cold nor hot. But it is no longer shorts weather. The temperature is on the verge of short and long sleeves during the day, and definitely long sleeves after dark. The flat is getting quite chilly, in fact it is colder inside than outside right now, so that I can no longer wear shorts and a t-shirt while going around the house. The humidity affects that too. If you have never experienced humid cold, it is quite uncomfortable. In dry cold you can wear layers and stay warm. In humid cold, it seems to permeate your bones. I hear all sorts of warnings about this in the upcoming winter, and I am not looking forward to that aspect. I spent my childhood in such a humid cold city, but the temperatures did not get as cold as here, so I am bracing myself.
On a positive note, it is still pleasantly warm when the sun comes out. I hope this keeps up. I am told it can be nice all the way to December.
Hi Grego, I have been in Malta a couple of times before during winter but this will be the first time I stay throughout Malta’s winter months. Let me tell you 2 weeks already were pure torture and I am dreading the thought of two months of cold freezing tempatures INDOORS! I can’t believe how quickly the temparatures dropped and affected the living inside the home. For being used to central heating, I concluded that Maltese winters are actually much harsher than Germany’s! But hey, I don’t want to scare you!
I will definatley invest in a bathroom radiator (heater) and maybe also in a gas heater (although I don’t like them very much) since the electricity prices went up. Also, a must buy are carpets and a good pair of warm house shoes. Then you are basically set and able to survive!
Wait until the real winter kicks in! I’ve always felt that I feel colder in Malta in winter than in, say the UK! The humidity has something to do with it, and the fresh, sea salt air too. Oh, and the limestone in our buildings.