The coolest temperatures will rise from 29 to 31°C, on the heights of the Ardennes and by the sea, while the countryside will suffer below 32 to 34°C. Most large cities and regions near the French border will be overwhelmed under 35 to 36 ° C, according to forecasts by the Royal Meteorological Institute (IRM). Only the Ardennes will benefit from a bit of fresh air during the night, with minimums oscillating between 12 and 18°C. In the countryside, it will be 17 to 20°C and in large urban centers 20 to 23°C. The wind will blow weakly at the beginning of the night before strengthening, to become moderate.
Tuesday will be the hardest day of the week to bear, in an explosive cocktail of sunshine and very high mercury. Otters, baby birds and fish will also suffer when at the end of the followingnoon, the thermometer will heat up to 36°C on the heights of the Ardennes and 39°C elsewhere. Values of 40°C might occur locally, especially at the French border. The wind will be moderate from the southeast.
Tuesday evening will remain warm and showers or isolated thunderstorms will be possible at the end of the night. The wind will become moderate, with gusts of up to 50 km/h.
Wednesday will mark a transition, beginning with changeable skies and some showers. It will then be drier before the chance of showers increases once more in the late followingnoon and evening. It will then be less hot: 23°C on the coast and on the heights of the Ardennes, 27 to 28°C in Campine and in the big cities.
The mercury should remain below 30°C on Thursday and Friday.
Europe is in the grip of a heat wave at the start of the week, a direct consequence of climate change according to scientists, who warn that this meteorological phenomenon is set to become more and more frequent.
