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Forum posters put January temperatures at roughly -5 to 5C with probable rain, though snow itself is called unlikely given the city's low elevation (just 13m above sea level). January is repeatedly named the quietest month, with a handful of attractions - the diamond, frites and lighting museums, plus the De Halve Maan brewery - closing for a couple of weeks mid-month, though canal boat tours occasionally still run on a sunny weekend. Shops, public museums and restaurants stay open as usual, and horse-and-carriage rides run year-round with blankets and rain covers provided. The overall mood posters describe: cold, wet weather is just an excuse to duck into a cafe for hot chocolate or a local beer.

Regulars are consistent this month can genuinely do anything weather-wise, drizzly and grey one visit, beautiful warm sunshine the next, with no reliable way to know in advance which version a trip will get. Our row backs that mild, genuinely wet read, 13.1C over 7.2C nights feeling 4C, with 46.9mm of rain across 10.4 days and a trace of very late snow, 0.5cm. Regulars are specific this is genuinely the nicest time to see the Beguinage, its daffodils in bloom, and that crowds stay noticeably lighter than the summer peak despite the unpredictable forecast. Layers, a raincoat and boots remain the standard packing advice regardless of what the sky looks like on arrival. The record: humidity 74 percent, 10.6 hours of sun, a 22.4 kph wind and AQI 42.

Ask about May here and regulars answer with two Mays: one year it is 25C and sunny, the next it rains most of the month and never passes 15C. Our row sits between them and nearer the cautious end - 16.3C reading as 14C in a 21.6 kph wind off the coast, nights at 11C, and 51.1mm of rain across 9.9 days. That argues for a hooded waterproof rather than an umbrella you have to hold in the wind. The other May warning is the calendar: the Procession of the Holy Blood is held on Ascension Day, which usually falls in this month, and the town fills completely for it, so check the year and book early or come a week either side. The record: humidity 75 percent, 11.8 hours of sun and AQI 48.

June in Bruges is unpredictable weather and predictable crowds. Regulars put the month anywhere from 12C to 28C, dry or very wet, and tell people to bring long sleeves, a coat and an umbrella regardless; our row's 20C reading as 19C with 9.7 precipitation days is the middling version. The crowd pattern is the useful part, because it runs on a timetable rather than a season: coaches, many of them from cruise ships, drop hundreds of people near Minnewater and give them about six hours, and the city transforms once the day-trippers have gone in the evening. Step a few streets off the obvious route and you are out of it even at midday. The record: 14.4C nights, 56.9mm of rain, 12.3 hours of sun and a 16.5-hour day.

Bruges's forum is candid that July can hit 30°C or run cold and wet around 10°C in the same summer — there's no real rainy season locally, since rain is possible any time of year. Regulars' standard advice: forecasts only hold up about five days out, so check again close to the trip and carry a light rain jacket regardless of what it says.

August is peak day-tripper season in Bruges and the forum's advice is almost entirely about dodging them. Expect queues for the canal boats, the horse carriages and the belfry - so do the belfry first thing and the boat after 17:00. Better still, step one street off the route: regulars say most visitors follow an imaginary path between the sights, and a road across from it is much quieter. Early mornings and evenings are named as the best moments in the city, once the coaches have gone. On the weather, posters are careful: late August averages a little below mid-August because the days are shorter, but any given year can come out the same or warmer. The record: 21.9C days, 16.1C nights, 10.3 precipitation days, 11.4 hours of sun, AQI 43.

September is quieter than July but the crowd here is not a seasonal thing so much as a daily one. Coach groups come through from the Zeebrugge cruise berths, weekends bring Belgians in to shop, and a national monuments weekend in the middle of the month adds locals to the visitors. What regulars keep coming back to is the evening: the day trippers leave, the buildings are lit, and the centre becomes a different town to walk. So the advice is to stay the night rather than to pick a week. Our row gives 19.9C days over 14.1C nights and 64.4mm across 10.3 days. The record: humidity 76 percent, 9.3 hours of sun, a 21.7 kph wind and AQI 44.