Malta has a Mediterranean climate, with dry hot summers, pleasantly warm spring and autumn weather, and short mild winters. Average monthly temperatures range from 12 degrees C (54 degrees F) to 31 degrees C (88 degrees F). There is plenty of sunshine all year round, with an average of 5-6 hours a day in winter and 12 hours or more in summer. It is often warm enough for swimming in the sea off Malta's coast until late in the year. Humidity is quite high, rarely below 40%, but Malta's cool sea breezes make this more bearable than it would otherwise be.

Malta has relatively low average rainfall of about 600 millimetres annually, and most of this falls between October and March. Strong gale-force winds are common, often lasting for several days, and Malta is sometimes affected by the hot and dry sirocco winds from Africa during spring and autumn.