Summers are warm (usually around 30°C), dry (three-quarters of the island's entire rainfall of 22 inches falls between October and March), and very sunny (more than 10 hours of sunshine a day).
The weather starts hotting up in April.
By July and August, Malta's hottest months, daytime temperatures are often above 35°C.
Winters are mild, with daytime temperatures rarely falling below 10°C and the sun shining for an average of 6-7 hours a day.
The occasional blast of north and northeast wind from Central Europe brings night-time temperatures close to (but not below) zero.
Unlike in Cyprus, a near neighbour, snow never falls in Malta.
Even in November, sea temperatures are above 19°C, great for diving at the end of the tourist season when the waters are less crowded.
Another dominant feature of the Maltese climate is the winds, which are strong and regular.
The three prevailing winds are the cool northwesterly, the dry northeasterly, and the hot, humid southeasterly.
An estimated 25 per cent of Malta's wealth depends on tourism.
The number of tourists coming to the islands peaked at about 1.
25 million in 2000.
Despite a recent slight increase in the number of tourists visiting, the amount of money tourists are spending has dipped by around 4 per cent.
The good news for holiday property owners is that tourists appear to be spending fewer nights in hotels and more nights in apartments and villas.
Malta's primary tourist market is the UK, which accounts for 40.
5 per cent of total tourists, growing at about 3 per cent a year.
Germany, Scandinavia, the USA, Austria, and France are other growing markets.
The numbers of tourists from Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, and Libya are declining.
A point to keep in mind when doing your research is that despite being a little more difficult to get to than the island of Malta, 25,000 tourists opt to stay in Gozo - a number that has increased by more than 21 per cent in recent years.