GALE WATCH

GALE WATCH: EXTREME ROUGH SEAS OVER 7 METRES HIGH – RAIN, HAIL AND COLD WEATHER. Please LIKE and SHARE for others. Thanks.

An intense low pressure system over Italy is expected to produce Gale Force winds across the Maltese Islands over the weekend.

For the Maltese Islands, this means strong Force 7 winds increasing to Force 8 to 9 (gusting Force 9 to 11) at times from a northwesterly to westerly direction from noon tomorrow Friday till early Monday with phenomenally-high seas of at least 6 to 7 metres at times (these are the maximum significant wave heights expected) from a westerly to northwesterly direction. Swell heights of at least 3 metres are also expected at times.

Rain showers that may be blustery, heavy, thundery and/or with small hail at times are also anticipated, particularly from midnight till 9am on Saturday. However, the weather will improve on Monday with partly cloudy skies and moderate winds.

Temperatures will also drop with highs of around 14°C to 15°C and lows of around 10°C. These temperatures will feel even colder because of the strong winds (this is called the wind chill effect) and the real-feel temperature will go down to 4°C at times over the weekend.

Worst effected will be locations and hilltops exposed to westerly to northwesterly winds, including Marsalforn and Dwejra in Gozo, and along the westerly coast of Malta including Cirkewwa, Paradise Bay, Anchor Bay (and Popeye Village), Golden Bay, Ghajn Tuffieha Bay and Gnejna Bay. Any boats berthed there should be removed as soon as possible. One may also expect some disruption to the Gozo ferry service, particuarly from late Friday till early Saturday.

MaltaWeatherSite provides detailed weather forecasts including a detailed 7-day marine weather forecast, a live weather webcam and a hazardous weather outlook for the next 7 days on www.maltaweathersite.com.

And a big thanks to Michel Calleja for this pic taken at Marsalforn in Gozo.