Brussels is facing a rare heatwave in the coming days as Saturday is set to reach up to 34°C. Today may in fact become the warmest 17 June in Belgium of all time, with the highest ever temperature having been recorded at 31.8°C in Uccle in 2002.
Friday will see the temperature rise to 30°C in the afternoon and the sunny weather will be alternating with high veil clouds that will move eastwards during the day.
Today’s night sky will be serene, with temperatures remaining around 20°C in the city and lower in rural areas, as Brussels is warmer than the countryside for a variety of reasons. There will be little wind, with the occasional breeze from south to southwest.
Code orange in Belgium
The Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) has put out a warning for Friday’s heatwave that will intensify in the coming days, with code orange reportedly to be activated on Saturday in the provinces of Limburg, Liège and Luxembourg.
A yellow warning was issued for Saturday in Brussels, the centre and the west of the country - excluding the coast - as temperatures will reach over 32°C in many places, the RMI detailed.
In the province of Luxembourg, the heat warning is already in force on Friday and extends over several days, since the criteria for a heatwave will be reached.
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During code orange, it is recommended to drink regularly, dress lightly, and spend your days in cool places or avoid outside heat by closing doors and windows.
If you are going outside, make sure to apply sunscreen royally and often, as skin cancer affects 1 in 5 Belgians before the age of 75. The Brussels Heatwave Plan is in place for at-risk individuals, detailing how to get help when it's too hot.
Worldwide alarm bells
As Belgians prepare to flock to pubs and parks to enjoy the sunny days, it is hard to ignore ever-increasing temperatures all around the world.
London saw temperatures of nearly 30°C yesterday, while Spain, Qatar and Pakistan are facing absurd temperatures higher than 40°C, with Jacobabad in Pakistan being as hot as 45°C on Thursday.
Seville in Spain became the first city to treat heatwaves like natural disasters, such as tropical storms and hurricanes, by naming and ranking them to raise public awareness of the dangers they pose.
High temperatures are not only posing health risks to people, such as heat strokes and dehydration, but also reduce the fertility of farmland with crops for human consumption. On top of that, wildfires are becoming more widespread.
And it is not just about the height of the temperature, as the hot season is also starting earlier and finishing later, with dangerously hot days starting in June. It is the increasingly frequent consistency that alarms climate scientists, who say the climate crisis will only continue to exacerbate the blazing temperatures.
