Heat islands in cities

Temperatures in cities tend to be higher than in surrounding rural areas, leading to increased human exposure to heat stress during heatwaves. The elderly and children in particular are affected by this health problem. This indicator quantifies this increased exposure using the additional ‘heat wave degree days’ measured in cities, which take into account both the weight and duration of heat waves.In this indicator, we take the definition used by the Federal Public Service for Public Health for a heat wave: ‘a period of at least three consecutive days with a minimum average temperature (average over the three days and not per day) above 18,2 °C and a maximum average temperature above 29,6 °C’.

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  • Flanders Environment Agency (s.devriendt@vmm.be)
Spatial Coverage
  • Coverage: Flanders
    URI: https://sws.geonames.org/3337388/
    (Bounding Box: {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[2.54, 51.51], [5.92, 51.51], [5.92, 50.67], [2.54, 50.67], [2.54, 51.51]]]})
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