Month of December was particularly dry
The number of hours of sunshine in the past month of December was almost double that of average December months. Meanwhile, rainfall was very modest, almost at a quarter of normal December months.
December was a strange month. Precipitation only reached 23 millimetres, instead of the average 81 millimetres. The dominant high pressure last month also resulted in much more sunshine: 84 hours instead of 45.
Average temperatures were at 4.7 degrees Celsius (40 Fahrenheit), more or less the expected 3.9.
Looking at the whole of 2016, last year was relatively average in Belgium. Precipitation was at 942 millimetres (852 normally) but a lot of rain fell in the first 6 months, while the second half of the year was much drier. The average year temperature was 10.7 Celsius - compared to 10.5 normally.