Belgian weather forecasters issued a North Sea storm warning for Friday with wind speeds of up to 130 kph threatening to batter the country's north-west.
The Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) of Belgium is considering issuing a full orange alert over a "storm or violent storm", classed at between 9 and 10 on the Beaufort wind scale, for the hours between noon and midnight on Friday.
In marine forecasting, that can mean very high waves of between 29 and 41 feet (some 9 metres).
'The most optimistic scenario'
Although the full force of such winds are seldom experienced on land, trees broken or uprooted and structural damage are common. Belgium has 65 kilometres of coast on the North Sea, much of it built up across a chain of 15 resorts from East Dunkirk on the French border to Knokke-Heist on the Dutch side.
The RMI said the north-western half of Belgium would experience winds of at least 100 kph, under "the most optimistic scenario".
An orange storm alert will be confirmed later on Thursday.
