Thunderstorms pass over our country: flashes, bangs and heavy hail | Weather & Science

In Zandbergen, East Flanders, beautiful lightning bolts can sometimes be seen, as the photo below from a reader clearly shows.

The heavy thunderstorm may have caused a power outage in the municipality of Heers (Limburg). Kristof Pirard, the mayor of that place, reported this on Facebook.

Fluvius is now aware of the power outage and is investigating the cause.

The thunderstorm is here and there accompanied by hail showers, as in Dadizele (West Flanders). This sometimes produces large hail, as one of our readers shows.

The storm has now also reached East Flanders, as images from our readers from that province show.

In Wingene, West Flanders, a beautiful bolt of lightning illuminates the sky this night. We received this image from a reader.

The storm that entered our country via France is also visible and heard Desselgem (West Flanders). The photo below shows several lightning bolts at the same time.

Also in Izegem (West Flanders), it is now thundering. That shows the photo below that was submitted by one of our readers.

In DiksmuideWest Flanders, the first thunderstorms have arrived. A reader sent us the photo below.

The first thunderstorms are currently hanging over France. This is reported by NoodweerBenelux. “Chances are that a lot of people will tonight and tonight a troubled time experience is growing because several weather models have anticipated this scenario. After midnight, sound and light shows in several places risk of hail and flooding.”

With these tropical temperatures, many people have come to the coast, but it is don’t get over your heads anywhere. It was only slightly busier in Middelkerke and Ostend. This is evident from a survey among several local police zones.

Into a zone Ostend the crowd barometer turned orange. “It’s pleasantly busy, but everything runs smoothly,” says the local police. “The inflow is going well, there is no traffic jam anywhere and there is still room in the city center car parks.” The beach police keep an eye on things and due to the predicted warm weather, the summer crowd plan was also activated.

In Middelkerke According to the crowd barometer, it was very busy on Saturday afternoon, but the Bier aan Zee event is in full swing there. “As a result, there are a lot of people on the dike, but that does not cause any problems,” said the local police. Also in Blankenberge there are more people out and about than usual. “It is pleasantly busy here, but cannot be compared to the absolute top days in the summer,” says the spokesperson for the local police. “Everything is going smoothly and we obviously hope it stays that way.” In Knokke-Heistthe northernmost municipality on the coast, makes a similar sound. “With these summer temperatures it is a bit busier than usual, but everything runs smoothly.”

The French weather service has forecast for Sunday in 35 departments, about a third of the country, warning code red declared due to the heat wave. It’s about it highest warning level. Code orange applies in another 45 departments, reports Météo-France.

In total, approximately 41 million inhabitants of France are confronted with the consequences of a heat wave. In various areas of the country the temperature rises to almost 40 degrees.

The fire brigade is still working on it in many places in the Flemish Ardennes clearing trees, branches, roof tiles and other material blown away by the storm yesterday. “It is unseen“, says Kruisem mayor Joop Verzele (CD&V), in whose municipality the iconic Huisekouter mill has been destroyed. There is great dismay in the village, but the residents sound determined: “There must be another mill here.”

The heavy thunderstorm that mainly crossed the border between East and West Flanders on Friday evening also for agriculture harmful consequences. Flax farmer Lieven Decock (61) from Heestert (Zwevegem) saw it flax that was rotting on the field a hundred meters further ended up. It’s by one whirlwind that passed through the region and caused a lot of damage, was sucked in and ended up again further away.

The RMI has declared a code yellow for thunderstorms the whole country. The warning applies to the later evening, depending on the province from 9 pm or later.

Tonight, tonight and tomorrow morning the atmosphere will become unstable again, the RMI explains. There can thunderstorms arise, which can sometimes be significant, with chance heavy gusts of wind and hail.

Code yellow can be declared for different circumstances: 20 to 30 liters per square meter in 1 hour or 20 to 40 l/m² in 6 hours or 25 to 50 l/m² in 24 hours or locally heavy gusts or hailstones of 1 to 2 centimeters.

According to our weather forecaster Jill Peeters, code orange was justified on Friday evening, because the weather models indicated the possibility of severe supercell thunderstorms. Especially in West and East Flanders, these locally caused heavy gusts of wind and hail between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Peeters points out that there are an estimated 6,268 lightning discharges yesterday were registered. “Short and sweet,” she describes the storm.

The atmosphere will also remain unstable tonight. According to the weather woman Thunderstorms may occur again, possibly with gusts and hail. Most weather models expect that after midnight. Local thunderstorms may also occur on Sunday morning, especially in the east of the country. “That it will thunder, yes, that chance is quite high,” said Peeters.

On the square in front of the town hall of Kaprijke, there seems to be little going on on Saturday around 11 am. The fair is running and mayor Pieter Claeys (Locally Stronger Together) has just married a couple. Hard to believe that a strong storm passed over the wooded municipality a day earlier. Yet the mayor, the technical department, the fire brigade and residents were busy cleaning up damage until late at night. Read more here.

The Kokorico disco in Lievegem (Zomergem) also had to deal with the passage of the heavy storm on Friday evening. A tree was blown over in the parking lot, landing on three employees’ vehicles. All three cars have been declared completely total. Read more here.

Through the eye of the needle. Carina Lemmens and Philippe Bataille from Tiegem (Anzegem) escaped there on Friday evening when a beech fell on their garden house during a fierce thunderstorm. The couple was having an aperitif with friends in the seating area at the garden house. The friend was able to film the scene. “We need a good guardian angel,” said Philippe. Barely a few kilometers further, damage is measured to a wellness…

Last night’s storm had a major impact. Many buildings were damaged, especially in East and West Flanders, and people were also injured. For example, Francis from Heestert near Zwevegem in West Flanders received a roof tile on the head when he tried to save his party tent. He suffered a head injury and required stitches. “Luckily the tent broke the fall somewhat, otherwise I might not have been there,” he says. Read more here.

Saturday is it sunny with chance of an isolated thunderstorm, especially in the southeast. The maximum temperatures are between 27 and 32 degrees inland. It is a lot cooler at the sea with maximum temperatures around 22 degrees, the RMI predicts. There may be (thunder) showers this evening and tonight. Locally, a lot of precipitation can fall in a short period of time and there are strong gusts of wind. It will be another mild night with minimum temperatures of 16 to 21 degrees. The wind blows weakly from a changeable direction.

Sunday it is often sunny with sometimes some cloud fields. It can be misty by the sea. Some local thunderstorms are possible at the end of the afternoon, especially in the eastern half of the country. The maximum temperatures fluctuate between 23 degrees at the sea and 33 degrees in Belgian Lorraine. The wind blows weak to moderate from north to northeast.

Monday it will be again very warm with maximum temperatures of 27 to 34 degrees. Some morning gray is possible, but it will soon be sunny everywhere. A few cumulus clouds may develop in the Ardennes. Some localized thermal storms may develop at the end of the day and during the evening. The wind blows weak to moderate from north to northeast.

Tuesday we expect maximums between 27 and 34 degrees. It will be sunny again with sometimes some cumulus clouds or high clouds. Some local heat storms may develop again towards the evening. The wind is weak and variable or comes from northeasterly directions.

It will be very hot on Wednesday with highs around 35 degrees. Just like the previous days, there is a lot of sun with a chance of thunderstorms at the end of the day. It will remain oppressively warm on Thursday and Friday, with maximum temperatures around 35 degrees in several areas. At night it remains very mild with lows around 23 degrees. There is a chance of intense thunderstorms on Friday evening.