“This Tuesday, November 26, we were less than 5 mm from the absolute annual precipitation record in Uccle which dates back to 2001 with an annual total of 1088.5 mm of precipitation. This record will probably be exceeded by Wednesday evening“, commented the IRM this Tuesday. Given the showers that fell this Wednesday in the center of the country, this is a new record broken.
And if we felt like we were treated to rain almost every day, this feeling is not correct. Because, according to the statistics, the number of rainy days is not higher than average. “It is interesting to note that this annual record value will be established while the number of days of precipitation is currently 188 days (in 132nd place in the ranking since 1833 as of November 26). Even if it were to rain every day until the end of the year, which will probably not be the case, this figure would then increase to 224 days, far behind the record of 1974 (266 days). With 224 days, we would be around 26th place for the highest number of annual rainy days. It is therefore the high number of days (11 in 2024) with abundant precipitation (equal to or greater than 20 mm) which explains this record rainfall.“, we are still learning.
The same thing to fear in 2025?
Everyone now fears that this wet weather and extreme rain will become the norm in the years to come, at least during the winter months. “A very wet year like 2024 is not what you can expect every year. For example, 2022 was a very dry year. Annual variability is high, mainly due to high variability during the summer months. With climate change, we expect precipitation to increase more in winter than it decreases in summer. In contrast, days of extreme precipitation (e.g. with more than 20 mm of precipitation) will increase in both seasons“, details the MRI.
And although it snowed very early in the season this year with a cold peak lasting a few days, this does not mean that the upcoming winter will be harsh, as the experts from La Chaîne Météo indicate. “The snow offensive in the plains over the northern half of France is remarkable for the season. It will perhaps be the only one of the winter, at least to this extent. Quite often, early snow and cold in November are followed by mild winters,” it reads.
For this first week of December, and the start of meteorological winter which begins on December 1st, “the situation could remain mixed without any particular harshness. A weakly disturbed westerly flow could persist with temperatures probably a little higher than the seasonal averages. Around December 5, a northwesterly flow could bring temporary deterioration accompanied by a drop in temperatures“.
For the future, the trends therefore remain towards mildness, and the first signals for Christmas do not indicate any sign of snow.
