The heatwave in Belgium has officially ended, as the maximum temperature dipped below 25°C for the first time in 12 days.
The maximum temperature in the Uccle measuring station was 24.4°C on Monday, meaning that the national heatwave has ended, announced David Denehauw, weather reporter and head of forecasting at the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI), via Twitter.
Tmax Ukkel 24,4 graden vandaag. De landelijke hittegolf is dus afgelopen en duurde 12 dagen, van 5/8 tem 16/8.
— David Dehenauw (@DDehenauw) August 17, 2020
The heatwave lasted for a total of 12 days, from 5 August to 16 August.
The RMI speaks of a heatwave when the maximum temperatures in Uccle reach at least 25 degrees for at least five days in a row. For at least three of those days, temperatures have to reach 30 degrees.
The heatwave was not Belgium's longest, as the temperatures should have stayed up for another seven days. The longest a heatwave ever lasted in Belgium was 19 days, from 10 August to 28 August in 1947.
However, the heatwave was very "intense", with eight consecutive tropical days (meaning, warmer than 30°C). Last week was the warmest week since the start of observations in the country, with an average temperature of 33.5°C.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
