The Met Office has issued a code yellow rain warning until 10pm tonight for the provinces of West and East Flanders and Hainault. Between 20 to 30 litres per square metre of rainfall could materialise over the next 24 hours. The 1722 emergency line to report damage when there is no threat to life is activated.
A low brings rain to Belgium today. Hardest hit are western provinces. It’s especially along the border with France that rain is expected. Code yellow is a signal for people to be more vigilant than usual.
In the other provinces, too, the Met Office expects a lot of rain (5 to 20 litres per square metre or locally even more), but the criteria for a yellow warning are not met.
What do the Met Office colour codes mean?
The Met Office uses the colour scale green-yellow-amber-red to explain various weather phenomena. Similar warnings are used for wind, rain, snow, fog, storms and thunderstorms. In a nutshell, code green or yellow means there is no great need to be very concerned, for any type of weather, but vigilance never does any harm.
1722 emergency line activated
For requests for help from the fire brigade to deal with storm and water damage, e.g. flooded basements or flooded roads, members of the public can call 1722 or log onto the 1722.be website. This frees up the general emergency number 112 for situations that are potentially life-threatening!