Belgium is about to experience intense heat, the coming days. As predicted by the weather forecast, temperatures should flirt with 40 degrees in places, this Tuesday, July 19. Something to alert the specialists. “We have only experienced such temperatures once in 2019,” said meteorologist Frank Duboccage to our colleagues from The last news. “It was then over 40 degrees in some places. For the rest, we never experienced that. That says enough about the unexpected nature of what we are experiencing.”
As of Monday, the expert expects records to be broken. “It will be the hottest July 18 since we record temperatures,” he explains. “Tomorrow will be the hottest July 19.”
Heat that can have serious consequences
Faced with these unusual heat peaks, France, Spain and Portugal are victims of large forest fires. Belgium is still spared but the meteorologist David Dehenauw does not exclude that such phenomena are observed on our territory.
According to Pascal Mormal, meteorologist at the IRM, “what could pass for something absolutely rare in the past could become more recurrent in future decades if the rise in temperatures accelerates”. However, the consequences do not only concern the environment but also the Belgians who will be confronted with more frequent heat waves. “The organism is not made to live with temperatures above a certain threshold, especially in countries like Belgium where the construction of houses and infrastructures is not at all similar to that of hot countries. like Spain and Portugal,” he told La Libre. “We will have to adapt a lot in the future to be able to withstand such temperatures.”