Summer weather in the Netherlands warmer and sunnier than normal this year
By Simone Jacobs
After the wettest six months on record, the weather in the summer of 2024 has been warmer and sunnier than it usually is in the Netherlands, according to Weeronline. August in particular has made the season feel the most summery.
No heat wave in the Netherlands during the summer of 2024
Temperatures in the Netherlands rose to summer levels quite a few times this season, but surprisingly never lasted for long enough to be called a heat wave. This is the first time since 2011, that the country hasn’t experienced a regional heat wave in summer.
The weather station in De Bilt measured four days of tropical heat (30 degrees celsius or higher), 20 days with summer temperatures (25 degrees or higher) and 65 warm days (20 degrees or higher) this summer. While there were slightly fewer of these days than there normally would be, the average temperature of 17,8 degrees measured over the whole season in June, July and August this year was slightly warmer than the 17,6 degree average of this same period from 1994 to 2023.
More hours of sunshine and the usual rain in the Netherlands this year
To determine how sunny the country was during summer, the average number of hours of sunshine was measured in five locations. Looking at Den Helder, Groningen, De Bilt, Vlissingen and Maastricht, there were 701 hours of sunshine during the summer months - up from the usual 656 hours.
The amount of rain during the summer season did not break the mould, with 232 millimetres compared to the usual 233 millimetres. However, there was more rain in certain areas of the country, with localised flooding in July.
August the best summer month in 2024
We can all agree that it felt like summer had a late start this year and the weather measurements show this as well. Throughout the whole summer, the best weather was measured in the month of August. It was during this month that the Netherlands got the warmest average temperatures and the most sunshine. In fact, the higher average for both temperature and sunshine this summer can be attributed to the weather in August.
For example, the average temperature for August was 19,1 degrees celsius - higher than the usual 18 degrees. However, June (15,8 degrees) and July (18,1 degrees) both had lower average temperatures than usual for that time of year.
Thumb image credit: Xandra R / Shutterstock.com
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training. Read more