With the rainiest August on record your thoughts may be turning to a bit of welcome sunshine abroad and perhaps planning ahead for a winter sun holiday. Lots of people ask me about good tropical winter destinations, which got me thinking about the weather in Malaysia, which I visited earlier this year.

Malaysia is made up of Peninsular Malaysia, which borders Thailand to the north, and the northern part of the island of Borneo. The country’s key weather influences have historically been the summer monsoon and the winter monsoon. The old rule used to be that you should visit the east coast and Borneo in summer but avoid them in winter because of the heavy rainfall. Conversely visit Penang, Langkawi, Pangkor Laut and Kuala Lumpur in winter and avoid them in summer.

The other thing that changes the weather is the altitude. The central Cameron Highlands, for example, are much cooler than the rest of the country. In colonial times the British retreated to this area to avoid the tropical heat. Here the temperature can drop to around 15 to 20 Celsius making for ideal conditions for the tea plantations you find there. Likewise, in Borneo the temperature drops as you climb the famous mountain of Kinabalu.

However Malaysia’s weather patterns appear to be changing, just like ours. On my recent trip to Borneo in June we experienced a day of solid rain when it should have been dry. It seems we can’t take the weather for granted today, so now I follow my own new rule of thumb - at sea level expect the temperature to be near a positively balmy 30 degrees day and night and also expect some rain. The east coast in winter has some tremendous hotel deals, but do be prepared for some rain.

The BBC provides this more in-depth insight into Malaysia’s weather if you want to find out more, and for details of all the great deals Tropical Sky offer to this fascinating country, just call our expert reservations team on 0870 9079 605.