Belgium experienced a warmer-than-average winter – from 1 December to 21 February – in the past months, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) reports. The season's average temperature stood at 5°C, higher than the normal levels of 4.1°C.
The RMI indicated on Wednesday that the abnormally warm months of January and February had pushed the winter temperatures up, with the season's highest recorded temperature reaching 18°C.
This should not have come as a surprise to most Belgians given the record-high temperatures recorded on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, reaching 16.3°C and 15.2°C respectively.
Moreover, there were not any days that fell under the 0°C mark in this winter period, whereas there are normally five or six of these sub-zero days during the winter.
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The warm winter weather was also compounded by a drier-than-average season, with 214.9 mm of precipitation compared to the normal level of 228.6 mm.
The number of thunderstorms in the country also reached a record low of seven days, the third lowest since 1991.
