Following a warm and pleasant weekend of sunshine, clouds will soon roll over Belgium, bringing stormy weather. The helpline for storm damage has been activated, and Brussels will close its parks to protect residents.
The Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) warned that, after the blue skies on Monday morning, it will soon become cloudy. The first showers will appear over some areas in Belgium during the morning. By the afternoon, a "structured and intense line of showers" will move from the coast towards the Ardennes.
"High winds and a chance of thunderstorms and hail will accompany this," the RMI warned. "The southwest wind will increase and become fairly strong to strong inland, and strong to very strong at sea with gusts reaching 80-90 km/h." Maximum temperatures in the centre of the country will hover around 11°C.
The RMI has therefore activated code yellow from 12:00 to 19:00 on Monday, when the wind will clear to the west/northwest and then moderate inland.
Green spaces closed
In response to the predicted bad weather, the Brussels-Capital Region's parks and forests, including the Sonian Forest, will not be open to the public on Monday, Brussels Environment announced. In line with the code yellow alert, parks and forests will close at 12:00 and are expected to reopen around 19:00. People are advised to not go near trees throughout the region.
Notices will be posted at the entrances and park rangers will inform the public. After the storms, the green spaces concerned will be inspected, cleared and secured before being accessible to the public again.
A windy day in Brussels. Credit: Belga / Herwig Vergult
The Nature and Forest (Natuur en Bos) Agency is urging visitors to forests and nature reserves in Flanders to be careful as heavy gusts can cause branches to break off and trees to fall. "We cannot guarantee the safety of our visitors," the agency warned, adding that it could be dangerous even once code yellow ends as "there are unstable trees and loose branches that could fall at any time."
Its Walloon counterpart, SPW, advises people against going to forests and parks, and as in Brussels, a number of parks in Wallonia will be closed.
The Home Affairs Ministry has temporarily activated the 1722 helpline to avoid overloading the emergency services and ensure that people in life-threatening situations can still reach the emergency number 112.
Anyone who has suffered storm or water damage requiring assistance from the fire brigade can apply via the e-counter – the most direct way to request fire brigade assistance – or call the number 1722. People must only call 112 in potentially life-threatening situations.
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While the worst of the storm will settle, the weather is not expected to improve significantly in the coming days. Tuesday will be mostly cloudy with rain and showers moving from north to south across the country. Maximum temperatures will drop to 4°C in the High Fens and 10°C in the centre of the country. Wind gusts could still reach 70 km/h inland and 80 km/h at sea.
Wednesday will be chilly with potentially intense and thundery showers. Maximum temperatures will be between 6°C and 10°C – some light ground frost is even possible overnight. Winds will be mostly moderate from north to northwest.
Thursday will remain chilly with some showers during the day. Maximum temperatures will be between 8°C and 11°C.
