This Tuesday is the hottest Aug. 27 ever recorded in Belgium, with temperatures climbing to 32.1 degrees Celsius in the early afternoon, announced meteorologist David Dehenauw of the Royal Meteorological Institute (MRI) on Twitter, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
A heat wave is defined as a period of five consecutive days in which temperatures exceed 25 degrees Celsius, with three days at or above 30 degrees Celsius.
Last Friday, 26.6 degrees Celsius were recorded at the Uccle reference station in Brussels, followed by 29.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday, 30.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 31.3 degrees Celsius on Monday and 30.4 degrees Celsius on shortly after 12:00 noon on Tuesday.
Belgium is thus experiencing its third heat wave of the year, which is an extremely rare phenomenon.
The two previous heat waves this summer were between June 23 and 30, and July 22 and 26, lasting a total of 13 days, Sudinfo.be reported.
The Interregional Environment Agency (CELINE) warned of high ozone concentrations on Tuesday, with a risk of levels exceeding the European information threshold in the north of Belgium.
The MRI has also warned all elderly and disabled people to be vigilant and drink plenty of fluids, and avoid staying out too long in the sun.