This weekend, the Netherlands gets to celebrate the country’s last public holiday of the year before Christmas in December, and while many may have plans for the three-day weekend, it’s worth noting that this pinksterweekend could be the coldest the country has seen in 70 years. 

Changeable weather expected over the coming days

In comparison to previous years, this spring has been cold and grey - bleak to say the least, and it doesn’t look as though it’s set to improve any time soon. Saturday is looking cloudy and windy, with rain showers expected for most of the country. There might be a couple of bursts of sunshine, but temperatures are expected to stay low - between 12 and 14 degrees.

Luckily, Sunday it'll pick up a little! There might still be some rain, but it should stay dry for most of the day and it will be a little warmer than Saturday, ranging from 13 degrees in the northwest to 16 degrees in the southeast. Monday is looking fairly similar at the moment, but there is an increased chance of rain.

The Netherlands could see a very cold pinksterweekend

This year, meteorologists are saying the weather will be colder than usual for this time of year. Normally at the end of May, the Netherlands can enjoy temperatures of between 17 and 21 degrees, so safe to say this year is pretty cold in comparison. 

While Pentecost isn't looking as cold as many meteorologists were predicting at the start of the week, the rainfall and strong winds mean temperatures could dip to 10 or 11 degrees. However, it could feel significantly warmer in the sunshine.

The lowest temperature ever recorded in De Bilt - a town near Utrecht and home to the Dutch Weather Institute - on Whit Monday was on May 13, 1940, when it was only 11,7 degrees. Experts are saying we could have a pinksteren that rivals the temperatures from 1951, when the average temperature over Whit Sunday and Whit Monday was 12,3 degrees.