Despite weather forecasts warning for the upcoming storm Ellen, and possibly even Francis, in Belgium this weekend, it remains unclear whether anything more than strong winds will hit the country.
The wind will start to pick up on Friday evening and overnight. Over the weekend, winds of 70 km/h to 90 km/h have been forecast, but whether or not it will come to a storm, is not yet clear.
"Storm depressions are not always easy to predict," said a spokesperson of Noodweer Benelux, which warns for storms and other exceptional weather forecasts. "As we have seen with storm Dennis, which was significantly fiercer than initially thought," he added.
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"For Saturday, strong winds and some rainfall have been forecast. There will definitely be gusts of wind of up to 70 km/h, and even some outliers of up to 90 km/h," said Noordweer Benelux.
"Whether or not this will develop into an official storm is not entirely certain yet. For that, the winds need to reach at least 9 Beaufort on the wind force scale in the vicinity of Belgium. If that happens, we can officially speak of storm Ellen, but as of yet, it is still unclear," he added.
Despite the strong winds and the light rainfall, temperatures will be mild the entire weekend, with maxima ranging from 7 degrees in Wallonia to 12 degrees in Flanders.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
