Winter in Malta is mild and wet rather than cold. Daytime temperatures usually sit in the mid teens.
Rain falls between October and March, and it tends to arrive in short heavy bursts rather than all day. Then it passes and the sun comes back out.
How cold it gets
It very rarely freezes. A cold week in January means daytime figures around thirteen or fourteen degrees and nights closer to nine. On a still, sunny February afternoon you can sit outside in a jumper without noticing the season at all.
Wind changes that quickly. A strong northeasterly makes the same temperature feel a lot worse, and it decides which side of the island is sheltered. The live weather page shows the wind direction alongside the forecast.
Indoors can feel colder than outdoors
Maltese buildings are designed to stay cool. Thick stone, tiled floors and high ceilings work well in August and work against you in January. Most homes and plenty of hotels have no central heating, only a portable heater or an air conditioning unit running in reverse.
If you are renting somewhere for the winter, ask what the heating is before you sign anything.
The sea is at its coldest in March
Sea temperature runs about two months behind the air. The water is coldest around March and warmest around September. That means winter swimming is for people who are used to it, and it also means October is often warmer in the water than June.
What stays open
The museums, temples and forts run through the winter, usually on shorter hours than in summer. Queues are short or gone. Boat trips and the Comino crossings are the ones that thin out, because they depend on the sea being calm enough to run.
If the weather closes in there is a list of things to do indoors. Accommodation is also at its cheapest between November and February.
Carnival falls in February
Carnival runs for the five days before Ash Wednesday, so it moves each year but usually lands in February. It is the one large public event in the middle of winter. There are two versions of it and they are not the same thing at all.
