Talking Dutch: It never rains but it pours
The mayor of Ostend has taken issue with gloomy weather forecasts that put people off visiting the coast
Derek Blyth on a storm in a teacup
You can even find a Facebook page dedicated to the unpredictable weather we have to endure in this country. Welkom in België – Welcome to Belgium, it’s called, een land waar je 4 seizoenen in 1 dag kunt hebben – a country where you can get four seasons in one day.
We might all agree that the weather is maddening, but it isn’t often that someone gets mad with the weatherman. Yet that was the gist of a story that appeared in De Morgen earlier this month.
Oostends burgemeester Johan Vande Lanotte heeft het gehad met het weerbericht – Ostend mayor Johan Vande Lanotte is fed up with the weather forecast, it said.
It seems the weatherman got it wrong in his forecast for the coast. Volgens de voorspellingen – According to the forecast, zou het afgelopen weekend regenen aan de kust – it should have rained last weekend at the coast, maar de druppels bleven uit – but there wasn’t a drop.
You might have thought people in Ostend would have been delighted with the unexpected good weather. But not so the mayor, who blew his top when he saw the clear blue sky. Ik heb het nu echt wel gehad met de weerberichten – I’ve really had enough of the weather forecasts, he posted on Facebook.
Rain on my parade
Deze morgen nog op Radio 1 – On Radio 1 this morning, the mayor continued, werd duidelijk gezegd – they again clearly said dat aan de kust zou regenen – that it would rain at the coast. Daar is niets van te zien – There wasn’t a drop to be seen.
He was annoyed because people who live at the coast rely on tourists. De inkomsten van heel wat mensen hangen er vanaf – A huge number of people depend on it for their incomes. Het is de voorbije maanden al vaak verkeerd geweest – It’s happened a lot in recent months. Wat meer accuraatheid zou wel mogen – A little more accuracy would be appreciated.
Flemish weatherman Frank Deboosere tried to put things in perspective. Volgens hem moet de burgemeester het weerbericht leren lezen – He said that the mayor should learn how to read the weather report, said De Morgen.
Er is gezegd dat het in de loop van de dag zou regenen – It was reported that it would rain during the course of the day. De regen kwam iets later dan voorspeld – The rain came a little later than predicted, maar ze was er wel – but it did arrive.
The mayor was also corrected on Facebook in the local West Flanders dialect. Bwa tegen de avond is het toch wat beginnen regenen ee Johan – Come on now, it started to rain a bit in the evening, didn’t it Johan.
Zeer lichtjes – Very lightly, he admitted.
Flemish coast
coast municipalities
kilometres long
million visitors annually
- Visit Flanders
- The Belgian Coast
- Westtoer
