Based on observations for the beginning of the flowering stage of Malus domestica (apple) and Pyrus communis (pear) for the 1950-2018 period, phenological trends in north-eastern Belgium were investigated in function of temperatures during dormancy. Moreover, two different phenological models were adapted and evaluated. Median flowering dates of apple were on average 9.5 days earlier following warm dormancy periods, and 11.5 days for pear, but the relationship between bloom date and temperature was found not to be linear, suggesting delayed fulfilment of dormancy requirements due to increased temperatures during the chilling period. After warm chilling periods, an average delay of 5.0 and 10.6 days in the occurrence date of dormancy break was predicted by the phenological models while the PLSR reveals mixed signals regarding the beginning of flowering. Our results suggest overlapping chilling and forcing processes in a transition phase. Regarding the beginning of flowering, a dynamic chill model coupled to a growing degree days estimation yielded significantly lower prediction errors (on average 5.0 days) than a continuous chill-forcing model (6.0 days), at 99% confidence level. Model performance was sensitive to the applied parametrization method and limitations for the application of both models outside the past temperature ranges became apparent.Other weather-related hazards were several light frost nights, frequent local hailstorms, and three heatwaves in 2019, an extensive drought period for more than two months in combination with a heat wave in 2018, water excess and storms in 2016, and a devastating summer storm in 2011. The consequences of extreme weather in addition to the Russian embargo on fruit imports since 2014 led the entire Belgian fruit sector into an officially recognized crisis, to the extent that federal and regional governments are preparing policies to increase resilience in the face of more frequent extreme weather events and in the context of a changing climate in general.Therefore, a better understanding is needed of the impacts of warming on phenology in the specific case of apple and pear cultivation in Flanders. By means of adapted phenological models, variations in flowering and the related frost-sensitive stage can be estimated across temporal and spatial scales, which can support decision-making regarding (new) orchard locations and cultivar selection.Following [3], the part of the growth cycle between late summer and budburst is conceptualized as dormancy period, and can be decomposed in a sequence of paradormancy, endodormancy, and ecodormancy phases. Endodormancy, i.e., 'chilling period', is induced by lower temperatures in late fall. The moment that a species' specific exposure to cold temperatures has been fulfilled, ecodormancy is induced and the accumulation of growing degree hours becomes the determining process for further phenological development [4], i.e., 'forcing period'. From then onwards, warmer temperatures favor earlier and no longer later bloom. Insolation and tem...