Just six hours and 11 minutes of sunshine have been recorded at the Uccle weather station in Brussels since the start of December.
Weather-wise, this year has been particularly bleak: 2024 has already been named the wettest year on record, confirmed after several consecutive months of above-average rainfall. The year is ending on a similar note.
The sunniest day of this month was 1 December, when three hours and 44 minutes of sunshine was recorded. 7 December was the second-most sunny day, with 1:55 hours of sunshine. Since then Uccle has seen zero hours of sunshine.
The blue line shows the daily observations of the past 30 days. The black line represents the recent values of this 30-day average, compared with the normal period 1981-2010 (orange line) and the extreme values since 1981 (orange zone) during the same 30-day period. Credit: RMI
The normal average for December is 48 hours and 35 minutes of sunshine, meaning this December will likely be significantly below average.
It's not just December that is bleak. Since mid-October, the most sunshine recorded in one day is around 6.5 hours.
Not a single completely clear day was recorded over September, October and November (259 hours and 47 minutes of sunshine compared to an average of 332 hours and 52 minutes). So little sun has not been recorded since the RM's observations began in 1981.
