An intense rain zone is forecast to pass over Belgium on Thursday, resulting in heavy rain showers and in some places thunderstorms. Code yellow will therefore be activated.
The stormy weather in Belgium will return this week with another period of intense rainfall expected on Thursday. An active disturbance will pass over the country from the southeast, gradually enveloping the whole country during the night, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) warned.
"An active disturbance is passing over the country, with mainly rain and a chance of very localised thunderstorms, both this morning and – after a dry period – also this afternoon," the RMI said on its website.
In light of the predicted bad weather, code yellow for rain was initially put in place from 02:00 on Wednesday night until 23:00 on Thursday for the whole country, but it has now been limited to from 06:00 to 16:00 in Brussels, Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Limburg (all code yellow in the morning and later in afternoon), as well as West Flanders (excluding the coast), East Flanders, Antwerp, Namur, Hainaut and Liège.
"Between midnight and this afternoon, locally between 20 and 40 l/m² of precipitation could fall, justifying a yellow warning," said RMI. "Storms or heavy showers on a very local scale can sometimes be predicted only minutes to an hour in advance."
With heavy rain falling across the country, the Home Affairs Ministry has also temporarily activated the helpline 1722. Anyone with storm or water damage should call this phone number or apply via the e-desk. This additional helpline ensures that the emergency number 112 remains available for people in life-threatening conditions.
The storm will slowly pass over the country, which has been the case in other recent storms, and could see very heavy precipitation locally.
Rest of the day and week
Throughout Thursday afternoon, it should become drier from the south with broader clearings in some places, but by the evening, more thunderstorms are possible as an equally active zone is expected on the back of the first storm. Temperatures will sit between 15°C and 19°C.
Friday will again be grey with smaller rain showers, mainly travelling from Limburg to High Belgium, but gradually, it will become sunny with lots of high veil clouds. Temperatures will reach 20°C in the west of Belgium and 19°C in the centre.
The weekend too will see changeable weather, with more thunderstorms expected on Saturday. Only on Sunday evening are broad clearings expected again after a foggy morning.
This article was updated at 08:30 on 16 May to include the latest RMI warning.
