Warmest week on record as heat wave to continue through Sunday

This was the warmest week on record in Belgium, according to the Royal Meteorological Institute. It has beaten the previous warmest week of 1976, an event Belgians still talk about to this day.

The average high at the institute in Uccle over the last seven days was 33.5°C. While the heat wave of ’76 lasted longer, the mean temperature was lower.

In Belgium an official heat wave is announced when the temperature is 25° or more for at least five days in a row, with at least three of those days reaching 30°. Today marks the eighth day in the current heat wave. In 1976, it lasted 15 days, though temperatures didn’t reach quite as high as Belgium has seen over the last week.

The current heat wave will last throughout the weekend, thought temperatures in Belgium will drop to between 23° (coast) and 29° (Limburg). Brussels is looking at 26° tomorrow and Saturday, rising to 29° on Sunday. The following three days will be cooler, with temps rising again at the end of the week.

Storm weather is expected this evening, with rain, thunder and lightning. Light rain is expected to continue off and on until Monday.

Photo ©Nicolas Maeterlinck/BELGA