After a largely sunny and warm day, clouds will start covering most of Belgium, bringing heavy rain and a chance of thunderstorms. Initially, code yellow was issued but it has been scaled up to the orange warning level in the centre of the country.
The past few days felt more like the start of autumn rather than summer in Belgium, with overcast skies and cooler temperatures. On Tuesday, Belgium will experience a very brief moment of warmer air, with temperatures expected to sit at around 23°C by the sea and in the High Ardennes but will rise to 31°C in Flanders and Brussels. However, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) warned that the summery weather will not last long.
"Warm winds will gather over France during the day, moving into the country during the evening from the southwest to the northeast, creating potentially dangerous and violent thunderstorms," it noted on its website.
RMI therefore issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms and flooding from 16:00 on Tuesday until 23:00 in the Brussels Region as well as in the provinces of Hainaut, Namur, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant, Limburg and Antwerp. However, by 11:00, it scaled up the warning level to code orange in several places where gusts of wind could reach more than 90 km/h, including in Brussels. "In Namur and Hainaut, it is the combination of local winds and hail that tips the balance to orange."
The European Storm Forecast Experiment (Estofex), a website that monitors severe weather across Europe, put out the second-highest warning level on Tuesday morning, adding that a tornado may even be spotted. "An isolated tornado is possible along the cold front over Belgium/the Netherlands. In addition, a few heavy rain and large hail events are forecast."
Flooding likely
The worst of the storms will be concentrated between Mons-Saint-Nicolas and Beauraing-Liège. These thunderstorms will see heavy rainfall in a short space of time, hail and locally strong gusts which could cause damage to houses, gardens and trees.
Due to the risk of storms or flooding in the afternoon and evening, the Home Affairs Ministry has activated the helpline number 1722 for non-emergency interventions by firefighters. Anyone who has suffered storm or water damage requiring assistance from the fire brigade can apply via the e-counter or call the number 1722.
Only for potentially life-threatening situations can people call the emergency number 112, to ensure that this line remains free for people in urgent need.
The thunderstorm zone will leave Belgium on Tuesday night via the Netherlands and Germany and will be followed by broad clearings interspersed with some smaller showers. Wednesday will be alternately cloudy with a chance of showers interspersed with wide clearings. Temperatures will drop back to 24°C in the centre of the country.
Brussels Environment, the regional agency, has announced that public access to Brussels’ parks, nature reserves and forests, including the Sonian Forest, will be closed from 17:00, announced on Tuesday.
