It’s official. Christmas may not have been white, but Christmas Day 2025 is the coldest in 15 years. At the Met Office in the Brussels borough of Ukkel, temperatures remained below freezing all day. This also makes Christmas Day the first ice day of the winter. The bitter wind from the north-east made it feel even colder. From Boxing Day onwards, it will get slightly warmer.
In Ukkel, the temperature did not rise above -0.3 degrees Celsius. This makes it the coldest Christmas Day in 15 years.
On 25 December 2010, the maximum temperature in Ukkel was -0.7 degrees. There were also 16 centimetres of snow. Since then, we have not had a single official White Christmas in Belgium. To be considered a White Christmas, strict rules apply in Belgium. There must be at least 1 centimetre of snow at the Met Office in Ukkel by 8 a.m.
‘But the cold certainly has not broken any records,’ says weather forecaster Sabine Hagedoren. ‘In 1962, it didn't get warmer than -4.3 degrees on Christmas Day.’
‘Christmas days are usually gloomy and wet, with an average temperature of around 6 degrees. Thursday was sunny, but with a cold, dry wind from the Arctic, which was very noticeable. That makes it feel like -6 degrees during the day. The -4 degrees in the morning even felt like -13 degrees.’
In Ukkel, a minimum temperature of -4.3 degrees was measured on the morning of Christmas. This also made it the coldest morning of the year.
Slightly warmer in the coming days
Boxing Day will be slightly warmer than Christmas Day, with maximum temperatures around 3 degrees. It will be sunny and dry again, with a moderate wind from the east or north-east.
The Met Office forecasts more cloud cover from the weekend onwards. It will gradually become less cold, with temperatures remaining above freezing at night from the beginning of next week.