Peggy

We will be in Brussels, Brugge etc next week. The weather sites have been showing rain every day for the past month. Is this all day heavy rain or just isolated showers? If it's showers, does the sun come out for part of the day?

Tulips

That weather report is absolutely not true; we have been having some of the best weather in years this spring. At Easter it was already 25 celsius. Currently sunny 20 celsius. You can always expect some rain, but it is very hard to predict. Have fun!

BTilke

After four years in Brussels and a lot of trips to Brugge, I find the late spring weather pattern to be (VERY roughly) sunny in the morning and then partly sunny til about 3 pm. Clouds roll in then and rainstorms/showers from late afternoon to early evening are very common (morning showers are less common but you will probably see them). Thunderstorms do happen occasionally, although they are far less fierce (as a rule of thumb) than what you see in the U.S.
Yesterday was a classic exampe--it was beautifully sunny and warm in Brussels during the morning and early afternoon. Just as I was about to take the dog for her walk, it began tipping down. Fortunately, the showers cleared up within 90 minutes and we had a great run in the park from about 4 to 6 pm.
For online weather forecasts, I found the weather.yahoo.com forecasts for Brussels more accurate than www.weather.com

Peggy

Thanks so much for the upbeat information. I was getting a bit depressed thinking of seeing your beautiful country in the constant rain. I've heard so many good things about Belgium from friends who have visited there. We leave Wednesday and I can't wait!

Tulips

BTilke's reply is just like it is here! It is quite unusual to have a whole day of rain, but things can change from sun to rain and back very quickly. If you have time while in Brugge and the weather is good you might consider a trip to Knokke-le Zoute, on the sea. It's not far from Brugge.

MyriamC

Peggy,
The weather may also depend from where you are, even if our country is small. Today was a gorgeous day with lots of sunshine in the Antwerp area. Temps about 22yC. At the seaside however the sun had disappeared already at noon and the temp was only 15yC.
Local forecast for next week is a little bit of everything (expect some rain) and temps about 18yC. Not too bad!

Tulips,
Our April weather was certainly not the standard! It was even better than in southern Europe (where I was at that moment - sigh).
And a few days ago we had a thunderstorm that was also not the standard for this season!

csroe

Tulips, what would the weather be like in mid-January in Brussels and Brugge? Have several days off then and considering a trip.