The year 2024 is officially the wettest since measurements began, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) said. The previous precipitation record, set in 2001, was broken on Wednesday morning.
While Belgium is hardly known for its sunny and dry weather, this year has been particularly bleak. So far, 2024 has been marked by several consecutive months of above-average rainfall, often resulting in flooding (including in Brussels). The RMI has now confirmed that this year was, in fact, wetter than usual.
"No one will be surprised: this year was very wet," it noted on Tuesday, adding that it was likely that the previous record for annual precipitation, which dates from 2001, would be broken on Wednesday. RMI weather reporter David Dehenauw confirmed this was the case in the early morning.
"2024 has become the wettest year in Uccle," he said on social media. "We have already collected 1088.8 mm since the first of January in the pluviometer, more than the 1088.5 recorded in 2001."
The list of the five wettest years on record is completed by 2002 (1077.8 mm, with seven days of more than 20 mm of precipitation), 1965 (1073.9 mm with five days of heavy rain) and 1966 (1055.6 mm and more than 20 mm of rain on five days).
More rain, fewer wet days
While the record for the total amount of rain might be broken with more than one month to go before the end of the year, there were relatively few precipitation days in 2024. So far, Belgium has experienced "just" 188 days of rain, which puts the year in 132nd place in the ranking since 1833.
"Even if it rained every day until the end of the year, which is unlikely, this figure would rise to 224 days, well down from the 1974 record," the RMI noted. In 1974, the RMI counted 266 days with precipitation. If Belgium experienced 224 days of rain, it would end in 26th place for the highest annual number of rainfall days.
"So it is the high number of days (11 in 2024) with heavy rainfall (equal to or more than 20 mm) that explains this record," the RMI noted.
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However, just because 2024 was a record-breaking year in terms of rainfall, people in Belgium should not fear the worst for 2025. "A soaking wet year like 2024 is not what we can expect every year," the RMI explained. "There is high annual variability, mainly due to high variability during the summer months."
Due to climate change, however, climate experts expect the number of rainy days to "increase more during winter than decrease during summer." In contrast, days with extreme precipitation will increase in both seasons.
