Adapting to the climate in Belgium

It's depressing it's cold and you feel wet because of the humidity at night nobody can adapt to Belgium weather! ! No Sun

I'll be honest, like most people who move to Canada, I didn't come to Belgium for the weather, but for many other reasons instead, such as work, lifestyle, and the fact that my wife is Belgian. Yes, it can be cold and dark (outside) with very short days in the winter, but you learn to live with it as the houses, shops and offices are centrally heated and well insulated. I have never felt uncomfortably cold here in Belgium. I would much rather spend a winter here than in Johannesburg, South Africa where I used to live and where temperatures inside your house can drop to 8° C as they are not centrally heated or properly insulated. Sure, Belgium has just had the wettest June on record, but it won't be like that every year. We have had summers here in Belgium with about 3 months of no rain and the grass died, in the middle of summer. This resulted in us having countless BBQ's, or to use the South African term: Braai's, and spending a lot of time getting sun burned at the local lakes or seaside. South Africa is experiencing one of its worst droughts at the moment, which is causing the price of food to skyrocket, making it even more unaffordable for most of the population there, my family included. So I don't complain about the rain in Belgium. If it floods here, its mostly because the rain has nowhere to go, the ground is covered with concrete and asphalt.

If I find the local Belgian weather affecting my mood negatively, Ryanair and lots of travel agents have great last minute deals to places such as Tenerife, Spain, Greece and Malta which is where we can go for a vitamin D fix, even in the European winter. If it really gets to us, we know we can pack up and leave and go live somewhere else.

I have lived practically all over the world and must admit that the climate here in Belgium, especially in the Ardennes region is horrible!

Coming from Florida, this climate change is a constant challenge for us, my wife asked me several times to move somewhere else, she is Belgian and since we are both retired, we decided to come here. Why? I ask myself this question all the time!
This year so far has been disastrous, rain almost daily, lots of wind and let's not even talk about all the snow we get in the winter!

We also lived in Seattle Washington and the people there complained about the rain but I really sincerely believe that there is more rain and gray skies here than anywhere else where I have lived!
My wife and I just came back from a vacation in Austria, plenty of sunshine and blue skies, we are definitively moving there.

It is so depressing each morning when waking up, looking at all that gray and relentless rain! Other than that, Belgium is a wonderful country but I believe that bad weather such as here depresses people, nobody is happy without at least some sunshine once in a while?

Nobody ever said that the Belgian climate was fantastic. But it is not terrible either. Its advantage is that by its diversity, there is always more interesting periods than others. Take the autumn with the leaves changing color. Summer with its long evenings that can stay outside doing BBQ or parties. Ballads in the Ardennes during the winter. And spring ...

I lived and worked in the tropics (Central Africa, Central America, ...). It's true that there is sun and heat. Then at the end of your work day, you go home. It's dark because the sun sets around 18:00. You want a drink on the terrace but it is night. So you turn on the light which brings mosquitoes ...

Then there is the rainy season, which lasts about six months ... And then, when it rains, it's not three drops ... You can not even hope that the rain will cool the temperature. Because after you take a steam bath.

For my work, I spent three months in a region of India with an average daytime temperature of +/- 37 ° C. And you know what, air conditioning is a fantastic invention !!!

In conclusion, although like many I find that a little less rain would be nice, I like the Belgian climate with its diversity.

To walk around in the sun, it's nice. But cocooning, it's also well ...

As has been said, Belgium weather is not fantastic, but by no means the worst. The houses and workplaces have been excellently adapted. I have spent almost 3 years in West African countries like Benin and Togo, among others. And there the rain makes Belgian rain look like a drizzle, and it doesn't stop for months on end, and you are permanently sweating with humidity up to 99%, any air-conditioning battles to keep up, oh, lets not forget the mosquitos, with malaria. At the end of the day, there's nothing we can do about the weather in any given location, other than to pack up and go live somewhere that it might suite you better.

I wanted to answer to those who are writing about living in India or Africa or wherever! We were asked about what we feel about this  weather here in Belgium and I answered. I also lived all over the world and know very well about the monsoon season where it rains for months andit  is very muggy, I just gave my opinion about here in Belgium, especially where my wife and I live, I have never seen so much  rain in my life, I was raised right here in Belgium and I remember clearly some very nice and warm summers, this is not the case lately, rain and nothing but  rain, and cold. We have the heat on in the middle of July! What is wrong with that picture? If I lived in Florida most of my life and it is very warm there, we are talking about HERE, in Belgium. So, those who are claiming that the weather is nice here, open your  window and see how the weather REALLY is here these past few months.

Dear eddyrose1,

I do not see why you make such controversy over my words. I am Belgian and proud of it. My family lives in the province of Liège (60 km from where you live) and come back regularly at home.

I know the climate of my country since I was born. And for me, because of its versatility, it is one of the best climates that exist. And my family and I did not wait for you to open our windows ...

Why do you complain that I make a comparison with other countries, while the other participants of this topic did too ... Even you

With that, good luck with your expatriation Austria.

I have some pics of this miserable Belgian weather when I opened my window this morning...I'm tired of walking around outside in flip-flops and a T-shirt and shorts...

This is a link to Flickr, you will be redirected there: (or how can I post in the forum directly?)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskEqWyJm

Moved here from Cape Town in 1986 ... well you get very much use to it! Actually, last time I was in SA, it was winter over there and summer here but I found it hard to adapt to the South Africain weather ...