Brussels on Friday 30th December

Bright for much of the morning - weak sun through altostratus. Gradually
overcast by early afternoon with a fresh and gusty S to SSE wind. Slight
snow from about 14.00 Brussels time.

Snow got going in earnest at 15.30 and a real snowstorm raged for the next
couple of hours or so: continuous moderate snow swept along by the wind.

Snow changed to freezing rain around 18.00 and this continued through the
evening. Freezing temperature until mid-evening when 0°C was exceeded.
About 4 cm level snow by 18.00 but it was difficult to tell exactly because
of drifting.

Brussels Uccle -0.8°C - overnight minimum -3.1°C - and 5 mm rainfall.
Brussels Airport -0.6°C - overnight minimum -3.6°C - and 3 mm.

Brussels Airport http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/EBBR.html

Splendid spectacle in the Grand-Place in the centre of Brussels in the early
evening. Snow swirling and blowing in the floodlights and spotlights
playing on the old guild houses. Tourists of numerous nationalities
milling around taking photos of the sights and of the snow and of each
other.

If Richard Dixon is reading: 2 cm snow cover on the outdoor tables in front
of La Chaloupe d'Or !

A pity that Wijke and Yannis who were in Brussels on a cold, wet and bleak
day in November were not here today instead.

Surprisingly the outdoor seafood restaurants (under awnings) in the streets
around the Grand-Place did not have many takers although the owners had
optimistically set the tables as usual ...

Even main roads were snowbound by the time I came home at 18.00.
Fortunately much less traffic than in a normal rush hour and no real
problems to be seen. Tram I was on had adhesion problems on the hill it
has to climb near where I live - but it got to the top without mishap.
Walk home from the tram stop was a distinctly chilly affair - a mixture of
ice pellets and freezing rain blasted along by the wind.

So Robin Nicholson - white, white and very white Brussels. Come back for a
visit sometime - and time it for a day like today.

Colin Youngs
Brussels