This year has been marked by records of the driest and warmest months. While the forecast for the end of 2022 predicts rainy and windy weather, one last record could be broken on New Year's Eve.
The temperatures on New Year's Eve are expected to be very mild, similar to those seen in the past week. Maxima will be between 10 and 15°C, according to the Royal Metereological Institute (RMI).
On 31 December last year, the mercury rose to 13.9°C, which at the time was the warmest New Year's Eve since records began, one that will be defeated if the RMI's predictions are true. However, while last New Year's Eve was largely dry, the weather forecast for Saturday predicts a lot of rain and wind for large parts of the country, meaning ringing in 2023 outside may not be as pleasant.
Year marked by records
Whereas 2021 went down in history as one of the wettest years in Belgian history, 2022 found itself on the complete other end of the weather spectrum, and was the second driest and the warmest year in the past three decades (based on observations made up until 19 December and the forecasts that have been made until the final day of the year).
Based on measurements made in the Uccle weather station, 2022 ranked second, after 2020, as the warmest year since records began in 1833, while the average maximum temperature was 16.2°C for 2022, making it the highest ever recorded since these specific records began in 1892. The five and 10 warmest years in Uccle all occurred after 2010 and after 2005, respectively.
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This summer was rocked by heat records — 19 July 2022 was the second warmest day in Uccle since observations began with temperatures reaching 38.1°C — and a heat wave that lasted eight days (from 9 to 16 August 2022), with an average maximum temperature of 30.2°C.
This weather continued until October, when a late Indian summer swept over Belgium, resulting in the maximum temperature reaching 25.5°C on 29 October 2022. "Never since observations began in 1892, has a summer day (day with a maximum temperature equal to or above 25°C) been recorded so late in the year," the RMI noted.
