diff --git a/meteostat/core/loader.py b/meteostat/core/loader.py
index f552740..aed2d7c 100644
--- a/meteostat/core/loader.py
+++ b/meteostat/core/loader.py
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 The code is licensed under the MIT license.
 """
 
+from io import BytesIO
+from gzip import GzipFile
+from urllib.request import urlopen, Request, ProxyHandler, build_opener
 from urllib.error import HTTPError
 from multiprocessing import Pool
 from multiprocessing.pool import ThreadPool
@@ -70,28 +73,36 @@ def load_handler(
     columns: list,
     types: Union[dict, None],
     parse_dates: list,
-    coerce_dates: bool = False,
+    proxy: str = None,
+    coerce_dates: bool = False
 ) -> pd.DataFrame:
     """
     Load a single CSV file into a DataFrame
     """
 
     try:
+        handlers = []
+        
+        # Set a proxy
+        if proxy:
+            opener = (ProxyHandler({'http': proxy, 'https': proxy}))
 
         # Read CSV file from Meteostat endpoint
-        df = pd.read_csv(
-            endpoint + path,
-            compression="gzip",
-            names=columns,
-            dtype=types,
-            parse_dates=parse_dates,
-        )
-
-        # Force datetime conversion
-        if coerce_dates:
-            df.iloc[:, parse_dates] = df.iloc[:, parse_dates].apply(
-                pd.to_datetime, errors="coerce"
-            )
+        with build_opener(*handlers).open(Request(endpoint + path)) as response:
+            # Decompress the content
+            with GzipFile(fileobj=BytesIO(response.read()), mode='rb') as file:
+                df = pd.read_csv(
+                    file,
+                    names=columns,
+                    dtype=types,
+                    parse_dates=parse_dates,
+                )
+        
+                # Force datetime conversion
+                if coerce_dates:
+                    df.iloc[:, parse_dates] = df.iloc[:, parse_dates].apply(
+                        pd.to_datetime, errors="coerce"
+                    )
 
     except (FileNotFoundError, HTTPError):
 
diff --git a/meteostat/interface/base.py b/meteostat/interface/base.py
index 7e33009..bb1a423 100644
--- a/meteostat/interface/base.py
+++ b/meteostat/interface/base.py
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ class Base:
     # Base URL of the Meteostat bulk data interface
     endpoint: str = "https://bulk.meteostat.net/v2/"
 
+    # Proxy URL for the Meteostat bulk data interface
+    proxy: str = None
+
     # Location of the cache directory
     cache_dir: str = os.path.expanduser("~") + os.sep + ".meteostat" + os.sep + "cache"
 
diff --git a/meteostat/interface/meteodata.py b/meteostat/interface/meteodata.py
index e6c372c..224ad8a 100644
--- a/meteostat/interface/meteodata.py
+++ b/meteostat/interface/meteodata.py
@@ -57,7 +57,12 @@ def _load_data(self, station: str, year: Union[int, None] = None) -> None:
 
             # Get data from Meteostat
             df = load_handler(
-                self.endpoint, file, self._columns, self._types, self._parse_dates
+                self.endpoint,
+                file,
+                self._columns,
+                self._types,
+                self._parse_dates,
+                self.proxy
             )
 
             # Validate and prepare data for further processing
diff --git a/meteostat/interface/stations.py b/meteostat/interface/stations.py
index 801e37b..41e8286 100644
--- a/meteostat/interface/stations.py
+++ b/meteostat/interface/stations.py
@@ -88,7 +88,13 @@ def _load(self) -> None:
 
             # Get data from Meteostat
             df = load_handler(
-                self.endpoint, file, self._columns, self._types, self._parse_dates, True
+                self.endpoint,
+                file,
+                self._columns, 
+                self._types,
+                self._parse_dates,
+                self.proxy,
+                True
             )
 
             # Add index
diff --git a/meteostat/interface/timeseries.py b/meteostat/interface/timeseries.py
index e1967d2..b89c875 100644
--- a/meteostat/interface/timeseries.py
+++ b/meteostat/interface/timeseries.py
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ def _load_flags(self, station: str, year: Union[int, None] = None) -> None:
                 self._columns,
                 {key: "string" for key in self._columns[self._first_met_col :]},
                 self._parse_dates,
+                self.proxy
             )
 
             # Validate Series