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Belgian weather, in English

Belgian weather is mild, wet, and disruptive out of all proportion to how extreme it gets.

The country is small and flat, densely built, and crossed by a rail network with very little slack in it. So a wind warning that would pass unremarked elsewhere cancels trains, a few centimetres of snow closes schools, and a summer week over thirty degrees becomes a national story about buildings that were never designed for it. The Royal Meteorological Institute issues warnings as colour codes — yellow, orange, red — and those codes are the vocabulary everyone uses.

Geography splits the picture more than the size suggests. The coast gets wind and sea fog the interior does not; the Ardennes get real snow and the only genuine cold; Brussels and Antwerp hold summer heat as cities do. A single national forecast is usually wrong somewhere.

We summarise the forecasts, the warnings and the disruption that follows to 60 words in English. The current colour code always has its own page, kept live rather than rewritten per storm.

For the official bulletin and the map, meteo.be is the source. This is the news around it — what is warned, what closed, what the trains are doing.

Latest in this section

HLN · 8 Sept

New footage shows tornado tearing through southern French village last month

New footage shows how a tornado swept through Pomas in the southern French department of Aude last month. The whirlwind ripped the roof off a home, among other damage. Dozens of residents suffered min…

La Libre · 7 Sept

Weather to change in Belgium: “We’re experiencing something exceptional”

The summer spell is coming to an end in Belgium, but the country will not plunge into autumn just yet. After a rainy Tuesday, the weather will turn dry and relatively mild again. Described as rather e…

La Libre · 7 Sept

Responding to emergencies while ensuring access to drinking water

In Rochefort and Léglise, the mayors are seeking practical solutions to address the effects of drought. The challenge is to respond quickly to emergency situations while maintaining citizens’ access t…

7sur7 · 7 Sept

Hawaii on alert as major hurricane approaches

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued a cyclone alert for Kauai and Niihau, the two westernmost islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. Hurricane Lowell is expected to brush past them from Mo…

La Libre · 7 Sept

Sunny spells and cloudy patches: Monday, September 7 weather

On Monday, September 7, the skies will alternate between sunny periods and cloudy spells, according to forecasts from the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI). This pattern will make for changeable we…

La Libre · 7 Sept

Despite the rain, drought persists

Rainfall in recent weeks has not been enough to end the drought. Much of the water was first absorbed by vegetation, which uses it before it can seep deeper into the ground. Groundwater reserves there…

VRT NWS · 7 Sept

Warm and dry today, cooler and wet from tomorrow

Today will be the last summery, warm and mostly dry day. From tomorrow, the weather will change: temperatures will drop noticeably, and rain or showers will regularly cross the country. The weather wi…

7sur7 · 6 Sept

Up to 39.4°C recorded in Perpignan; six departments on orange alert

A temperature of 39.4°C was recorded in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales. On Sunday, Météo-France placed six departments in southern and southeastern France on orange alert due to extreme heat. M…

HLN · 6 Sept

France issues orange alert in six departments today and tomorrow

France is activating an orange alert in six departments today and tomorrow due to exceptional heat. Recorded temperatures are described as unprecedented for September. The warning comes as Europe grap…

HLN · 6 Sept

Wildfire in France's Aspe Valley affects 105 hectares

A wildfire in France's Aspe Valley has affected 105 hectares. The fire is part of a broader period of heatwaves and wildfires in Europe, alongside floods in Asia and typhoons around the Indian Ocean. …

HLN · 5 Sept

Why you need to get up early now to see zodiacal light

With the start of meteorological autumn, early risers have a new chance to see zodiacal light. In clear weather, this faint, cone-shaped glow appears in the eastern sky before dawn. Also known as fals…

La Libre · 5 Sept

Weather: Here's the forecast for this weekend

Saturday's forecast calls for variable cloud cover. The skies should gradually become brighter, with more sunny spells, making for a generally brighter day. This is the main point to bear in mind when…

HLN · 4 Sept

45.7°C recorded in southern Spain

A temperature of 45.7°C was recorded in southern Spain. The measurement comes amid a broader period of extreme weather, with heatwaves and wildfires in Europe. Flooding is causing problems in Asia, wh…

HLN · 3 Sept

Tens of thousands without power as severe storms hit Toronto

Tens of thousands of Toronto residents were without electricity on Thursday due to exceptionally severe thunderstorms that have been sweeping across the Canadian city since Wednesday. Major thoroughfa…

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