Second hottest day of the year: tropical weekend attracts 300,000 day tourists to the coast

"It is already the fourth record in a week," said weatherman Bram Verbruggen. Heat records were also broken last Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. By the way, today was not only the warmest 10 September since records began, but also the second warmest day of the year. Only on 8 July was a higher temperature measured at the Met Office in Ukkel: 32.1 degrees”.

David Dehenauw, head of weather forecasts at the Met Office, has a few more remarkable figures up his sleeve. "These are the warmest first ten days of September ever and 10 September was the sixth tropical day (days with temperatures above 30 degrees, ed.) in a row in Ukkel," he writes on X.

We are currently experiencing the first September heatwave in Belgium since records began. The Belgian Met Office speaks of a national heat wave when highs in Ukkel reach at least 25 degrees for at least five consecutive days, with at least 30 degrees being reached on at least three days.

"Tomorrow, Monday, it will still be warm, but we will probably not reach 30 degrees," weatherman Bram Verbruggen predicts. The heat wave is likely to end on Tuesday, when highs reach a maximum of 23 degrees according to current forecasts.

Busy weekend on the coast

The warm weather lured a lot of people to the coast this weekend. On Saturday night, almost all overnight accommodation (90 per cent) was fully booked. In total, Westtoer recorded 270,000 tourist overnight stays on the coast this weekend.

"That is slightly lower than the weekends during the summer months, but a lot higher than during the June 2023 weekends." During the weekend of 10 and 11 June, for example, when there was also a heat wave in the country, Westtoer counted 200,000 tourist overnight stays.

A lot of people also descended on the coast for a day on Saturday or Sunday. About 150,000 day tourists made the trip each day, accounting for 300,000 in total.