Caution in the snow this morning, beware of significant amounts of precipitation afterwards!
The rain is sweeping Belgium from west to east on Friday, according to forecasts by the Royal Meteorological Institute (IRM). Accumulated precipitation could be significant, he warns. The Ardennes will experience new snowfall while in other regions, the rain will sometimes turn into melting snow, which can accumulate on the ground in the event of intense precipitation. It will be -1ºC in the high Ardennes plateaus, 4ºC in the center and 5 to 7ºC in the west.
>> The weather in your town
Double alert
The IRM has also placed two parts of the country on yellow alert:
– Until 7 p.m., the west of the country is in yellow rain alert: an active precipitation zone will slowly cross our country and will be maintained over our regions until this evening. During this period, the accumulations of precipitations can reach on the west or the southwest half between 20 and 40 l / m2 and maybe locally a little more.
– Until midnight, the south-east of Belgium is on yellow alert for slippery conditions: an active precipitation zone will invade our country with rain and sometimes (melting) snow in the plain, which could temporarily arise from slippery roads. In Upper Belgium, it will be snow with, over a large part 5 to 10 cm of (additional) snow until the evening, or even locally more.
Desires for the future
On Friday afternoon, the weather is expected to become drier in the west of the country but still very cloudy. After the passage of the precipitation zone, the wind should strengthen, shifting to the west. At sea, gusts can reach 60 to 70 km / h.
The rain continues to fall on Friday evening in the center and east of the country. The precipitation zone moves slowly during the night: snowfall (melting) persists over the east until late at night. Mists and fogs available are old in places. The minima will drop between -2 and 5ºC.
The IRM is also issuing a yellow warning to rain on Friday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the provinces of Hainaut, West Flanders, East Flanders and the Coast. It also warns of slippery conditions (yellow alert) from 6 a.m. to midnight in the provinces of Liège, Namur and Luxembourg.
The eastern half of the country will wake up to very cloudy skies on Saturday but the weather is expected to remain dry. Only a few winter precipitations can still occur south of the Sambre-et-Meuse furrow. In the evening, however, the rain will already make its return. It will be between 0 and 7ºC.
If it remains rainy, the weather will become much milder, with temperatures forecast between 4 and 6ºC in Upper Belgium on Sunday and 10 to 12ºC elsewhere.