Cold snap to arrive in Belgium from Wednesday, with some snowfall and gusty winds

Following record high temperatures in October, Belgium is now bracing for its first cold spell of the season, reports Sudinfo.

From Wednesday, the mercury will drop sharply with the cold snap accompanied by snowfall and wind gusts of up to 70km/h.

The sub-zero temperatures in the south of the country are likely to settle between “-1° in the Ardennes and 5° elsewhere”, said meteorologist Luc Trullemans, who described the cold spell as “a little 4-day bite”.

According to David Dehenauw, head of weather forecasting at the Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI), “the weather will be dry on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with temperatures in the plains between 5 and 6° and 0° in the High Fens.” At night, the mercury will stabilise “between -5 and -7°”, resulting in frost.

Although a few centimetre of snowfall in elevated areas is expected from Wednesday, said Dehenauw, they won’t be sufficient for cross-country and downhill ski slopes to open in southern and eastern Belgium.

The meteorologist also announced the arrival of “wind gusts of 50 to 70 km/h” that will make the weather conditions feel colder.

With current temperatures around 10°, this taster of the winter ahead is at least likely to be short-lived. It will be followed by  warmer weather at the weekend that will melt the early snowfall.

Photo: Snow in the High Fens (Hautes Fagnes) ©WBT/Denis Closon