After all the rain, storms and hail, astronomical summer begins today with temperatures around 20C. You may have thought that that was our lot and that actual summer would never arrive, but luckily it’ll be here sooner rather than later. Hot days are on their way, with a real possibility of temperatures rising higher than 35C!

Feeling hot, hot, hot

It all starts with Sunday, June 23. The weather is expected to be fine, with a lot of sun, barely any clouds and temperatures of at least 25C. Things really start to heat up though on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (June 24 – 26), with inland temperatures of above 30C forecasted. At the start of next week, temperatures could even reach 35C or higher. This is due to a warm air current travelling this way from North Africa.

If Thursday stays warm, the weather from Sunday to Thursday can be classed as a heatwave. A national heatwave occurs when temperatures at Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) measuring point De Bilt are 25C or higher for five consecutive days, three of the days experiencing temperature of 30C or higher. Temperatures on Thursday, June 27 could drop, so we’ll have to wait and see about calling it a heatwave. In any case, it’s going to be hot, hot, hot for a few days.

After the possible heatwave

After Thursday next week, it’s uncertain what kind of weather we can expect. It’s quite possible that Friday, June 28, will see fickle weather and temperatures around 20C to 25C. The days that follow may see temperatures gradually decreasing.

Weather map: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) via WetterOnline