Spring 2013 will go down as unusually rotten but the summer that followed may well be remembered as one of the very best. July closed with sunny skies and, according to the Royal Meteorological Institute’s (RMI) records, it figures in the top five of the warmest Julys since 1833, boasting an average temperature of 20.3º, more than two degrees above normal.
Marc Vandiepenbeek, meteorologist at RMI, told RTL-TVi: “July 2006 was hotter, with an average of 23º, three degrees higher than this year.” As for clear skies, we enjoyed 275 hours of sunshine, 75 hours more than the July average.
Will August be up to the challenge? As far as it’s possible to predict the weather for a full month in advance, the early days of August will be in line with July – Thursday will see temperatures of 26-31º. On Friday, the temperature may well rise to 33º in places. The hot weather will continue throughout the weekend, although you can expect some rain on Saturday. For next week and the week after the temperature shouldn’t drop below 20º, according to the RMI.
But not everyone is happy. French weatherman Laurent Cabrol stubbornly maintains that his pessimistic forecasts, despite the glorious weather in July, are correct: in the end we will have had a rotten summer. Then again meteorologists have been known to be wrong in the past.
While the sunshine lasts, look out for Together’s ice-cream van – she’s called Lucy, and she’ll be making starring appearances at various events around the city.
Photo: AndreasPraefcke
Sources: Le Soir, RMI, RTL
