Погода: Брюссельский столичный регион, декабрь

Belgian forum threads covering the Christmas market season are consistent that December here runs miserable more than genuinely cold - gray, short, windy and rainy days are the norm, with real snow more the exception than the rule most years. Historical odds cited put rain at roughly three days in five. The standard advice repeated across threads: come with layers and something properly waterproof rather than expecting a snowy postcard scene, and the market stalls, food and mulled wine make up for the grey skies once you're dressed for it.

Regulars are direct this month could genuinely land cold, warm or even hot, equally likely to turn wet, damp or dry, with no reliable way to know in advance which combination a trip will get. Our row backs that mild, genuinely wet read, 19.4C over 9.9C nights feeling 7C, with 61.6mm of rain across 11.2 days and humidity at 71 percent. Regulars are consistent checking the forecast close to departure beats trusting any seasonal average, with layers covering most of the realistic range the standard advice regardless. This remains a genuinely comfortable month for wandering the Grand Place and parks whenever a dry, sunny stretch does line up. The record: 10.9 hours of sun, an 18.1 kph wind and AQI 50.

September is one of the three months regulars name for this country, alongside May and June: longer days than October, warmer than March, and usually less rain than either - though they will not promise it. Their packing rule is blunt and seasonal: from September onwards take long trousers and closed shoes and leave the sleeveless things at home, because you are likelier to be cold than hot. Our row gives 21.2C reading as 20C over 12.4C nights, with 63.3mm of rain across 10.8 days and only 8.7 hours of sun inside 12.6 of daylight. The city's business calendar restarts this month too, which tightens the hotels. The record: humidity 76 percent, a 17.9 kph wind and AQI 45.

Regulars put late June here between 20 and 25C by day with cooler evenings, and our 23.2C over 13.7C sits inside that. Their description of the rain is the useful part - light and miserable rather than heavy, the sort you carry an umbrella through and keep going - and the numbers say the same thing: 73.6mm across 10.9 days is under seven millimetres a day, so rain interrupts about one day in three without ever really stopping anything. The packing list is light layers, something waterproof, and shoes that can take cobbles all day. Daylight runs to 16.4 hours. The record: humidity 71 percent, 11.1 hours of sun, a 17.6 kph wind and AQI 53.

July in Brussels averages about 25C by day and 15C at night, which our row puts at 23.9C and 14.8C, and the forum's point is how little that average tells you. The month can reach 30C or more; it can also sit at 10C and wet, and regulars say the weather here is unstable enough to change within minutes, with forecasts worth trusting about five days out. Belgium has no rainy season - it can rain at any point in the year - and July happens to be one of the wetter months, our row giving it 10.7 precipitation days. Hence the standing rule: light clothes, a pullover or light jacket, and a raincoat with you unless a heatwave is already forecast. The record: 62.8mm of rain, 11.4 hours of sun and a 16-hour day.