A storm coming in from the English Channel will create dangerous weather conditions in large parts of Belgium from Thursday and into the weekend, the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) has warned.
Conditions on Thursday and Friday promise to be particularly bad due to a combination of sleet, heavy rain, and gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour in some parts of the country.
According to the RMI, the storm – dubbed ‘Storm Goretti’ – will reach Belgium on late Thursday afternoon, bringing a significant band of rain which will move rapidly across all regions from France.
Strong winds are expected across Belgium on Thursday and Friday, with gale-force conditions forecast at the coast on Thursday evening. Gusts will range from 70 to 90 km/h or even higher, depending on the area.
On Friday, an active low-pressure system will move across the Netherlands and northern Belgium, bringing persistent, heavy rain.
In Wallonia, it will likely fall as sleet and on high ground, more snow is possible. In the afternoon, wintry showers are expected in Flanders, especially in the northeast.
Storm Goretti is forecast to continue until Saturday afternoon before moving into Germany and weakening.
It comes on the back of freezing conditions in Belgium over the past few days. In Brussels, the first snow of Wednesday arrived around 8.25 am, causing major traffic disruptions.
According to the Flemish Traffic Centre, there was almost 400 km of traffic jams on the motorways in and around Brussels during yesterday morning’s rush hour.
Dozens of flights were also cancelled or disrupted at Brussels Airport yesterday as ground crew battled to de-ice aircraft and clear snow off the airport’s runways.
Via Brussels Times
