In December 2024, Belgium benefited from less than 12 hours of sunshine

Belgium experienced a very gray month in December with only 11 hours and 48 minutes of sunshine between December 1 and 27 of the year 2024, according to the French-speaking Belgian news channel RTL Info . This represents only 10 days of sunshine during the month of December, four times less sunshine than usual. In Belgium, the year 2024 was one of the darkest after 1917 and 1934.

“There is quite a bit of moisture trapped in the lower layers of the atmosphere and an absence of wind, (which results in) very little mixing of the air mass. The situation is very static and very fixed. And so, this gray and foggy weather persists for a long time”indicates Pascal Mormal, specialist at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (IRM).

Only 27 days of sunshine in Saint-Brieuc in 2024

In France, 2024 was also the year with the least sunshine for more than 30 years, particularly in the northern half and in Brittany. The site Météo-France revealed on December 19 that in 2024 sunshine would show a deficit of around 10% compared to previous years, particularly during the months of February, May, September and October. However, the months of January and August saw the longest periods of sunshine. We have to go back to 1987, 1992, 1993 and 1994 to have a sunshine deficit of more than 10%.

In Brittany, the town of Saint-Brieuc experienced on average only 46.4 hours of sunshine in December, according to West France . In comparison, in December 2023, the sun had shone for 64.3 hours. In 2024, the town of Côtes-d’Armor recorded only 27 days of sunshine (i.e. 1508 hours), almost reaching the record of the year 2000 with 1345 hours.