Between the Scheldt, the Leie and the Flemish Ardennes
East Flanders is the province of two rivers. The Scheldt runs north to Ghent, joins the Leie there and carries on to Dendermonde, where the Dender flows in, and then towards Antwerp. Almost everything lies below 20 metres: Ghent at 10, Aalst at 15 and Dendermonde at just five. The landscape feels like an open book in which clouds drift in from the west unimpeded, and the sky shapes every day.
In the far south the plain ends abruptly. Around Oudenaarde, Ronse and Geraardsbergen the Flemish Ardennes begin, a chain of hills where the spring classics have their famous climbs. The centre of Geraardsbergen stands at 65 metres and Horebeke reaches 97. Modest heights, but enough to hold back cloud and sharpen a shower.
Ghent and the port zone
With about 262,000 inhabitants Ghent is the largest city of the province and among Flanders' sheltered towns. January brings an average night-time low of 1.8 degrees and a daytime high of 6.5; July stands at 22.8. The annual 786 millimetres over 145 days is moderate, April the driest month and August the wettest at a little over 83 millimetres, so summer thunderstorms are no rarity.
North of town the Ghent–Terneuzen canal runs to the Dutch frontier, passing Evergem. The port forms a weather zone of its own, where fog and haze linger in autumn. To the west lies the Meetjesland with Aalter and Deinze on the Leie, where meadows and polder ditches invite cycling. Even here, showers can appear from nowhere within minutes.
The Waasland and the Scheldt banks
In the north-east the Waasland follows, a flat country west of the Scheldt with Sint-Niklaas as its biggest town and Beveren in the hinterland of the Antwerp port. Beveren lies at just five metres and records a July high averaging 23.1 degrees, a sign of its sheltered spot behind the dykes. The Scheldt here is a tidal river whose level rises and falls with the sea.
In a storm surge, or after heavy rain further inland, the water presses against the dykes, and the polders around Temse can be flooded at high levels. Waterinfo publishes the current situation and forecasts. After a snowy winter inland, the meltwater arrives only in spring, and late-autumn westerly gales can raise the tide further.
The Dender country and the spring classics
In the east the Dender passes Aalst and Ninove, whose July highs of 23.8 and 23.9 degrees make them two of the warmest places in East Flanders. The heat-island effect of the denser valleys, together with shelter from north winds, makes the Dender country noticeably milder in summer than the coast. Aalst receives 838 millimetres a year, peaking in August.
During cycling season in spring, weather here changes faster than riders can change gear. Cobbles and hills such as the Muur of Geraardsbergen are treacherous in rain, and a westerly stretches the peloton. Anyone cycling should lean on the 14-day forecast for Oudenaarde and the wind outlook rather than the feel of the temperature.
Everyday weather knowledge
Spring comes early, and with it pollen. Birch in March, grasses in June, mugwort in high summer: our guide Pollen in Flanders and Wallonia explains the sequence. Allergy sufferers find less peace on the windy plain than in the wooded country further south. At the same time, nearness to the sea often brings a breeze that softens the heat.
The neighbours are West Flanders to the west, Antwerp to the north-east and Flemish Brabant to the east. To keep an eye on the sky, open the map of Belgium, where shower cells can be seen drifting and wind and temperature compared at a glance. One last note concerns autumn: where the Scheldt and the Leie meet at Ghent, veils of mist often hang over the meadows, and early trains between Ghent and Oudenaarde run through white fields. By midday the fog usually lifts and the afternoon turns mild.
Sources and further reading
IRM-KMI: Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium
Waterinfo: river levels and flood situation in Flanders