Temperatures are expected to soar to 34°C in several places across Belgium on Monday, making it the hottest day of the year. While a code yellow for heat had been issued in advance, this has now been scaled up to orange in some parts of the country.
The Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) has issued a warning for high temperatures on Monday as very warm air flows into Belgium from the Iberian Peninsula and France. As a precaution, the RMI scaled up the warm weather warning to code orange in West and East Flanders and the Walloon province of Hainaut specifically, while the rest of the country remains on yellow.
"Today, we expect maxima between 30 and very locally 36°C," the RMI noted on its website. "Code orange will be declared locally because, in several places in these provinces, we could reach 35 °C." This means it will be the hottest day of the year so far.
In areas where code yellow applies, people are urged to be vigilant and to take measures to protect the elderly and frail, including ensuring they drink enough and keep out of direct sunlight.
In areas where code orange was issued, people of all ages are called on to drink regularly, dress lightly, spend the day in cooler rooms, monitor their health condition regularly, and keep doors and windows closed to keep the heat out.
Credit: Belga / Virginie Lefour
The heat warnings will remain in place until the end of Tuesday. Tomorrow is also expected to be hot, but temperatures will drop a few degrees to around 30°C in the centre of the country.
From Wednesday, temperatures will drop significantly to somewhere between 22°C and 26°C. "On Tuesday night, a cold front passes through the country from west to east, pushing the warm air out of Belgium.
This means Belgium will not be experiencing an official heatwave, as this only occurs when maximum temperatures reach a minimum of 25°C for at least five consecutive days, and 30°C or more on at least three days.
Zoo diets
The hot weather also has implication for animals. In Antwerp Zoo, keepers will be protecting their residents by treating them to ice cream.
The chimpanzees and gorillas will be receive ice creams with pieces of watermelon, lemon, orange, sunflower seeds and peanuts, as their menu consists largely of vegetables. The buffaloes, in turn, feast on carrot ice creams.
