April started with unexpected snowfall, and these low temperatures persisted throughout the month, which could result in this month being the coldest April in 35 years in Belgium.
Last year, the average temperature in April was 12.6°C and the average maximum temperate in Belgium was 18.3°C, according to the Royal Meteorological Institute (KMI).
"We are now sitting with an average temperature of 6°C. The average maximum temperature is around 10°C and the average minimum temperature is only 2 °C", weatherman Frank Deboosere told Het Nieuwsblad.
"At the moment, all those measurements are about 4°C lower than normal."
He added that it has been since 1986, when the thermometer read 6.6°C, that the average monthly temperature was this low.
Belgium has experienced colder starts to the spring season than this. In April 1917, for example, the average temperature was 4.6°C, according to Deboosere, who added that “April is always fickle”.
"This month, we have been getting mainly air from the north, where it is naturally colder. If the wind were to turn and we suddenly get southerly and subtropical winds, the temperature can suddenly change and we can go up to 25°C. That contrast can be very strange,” he said.
However, the temperature is not expected to rise in the foreseeable future.
The Brussels Times
