Dutch cities with the best weather
Photos by D / Shutterstock.com
By Simone Jacobs
Anyone living in the Netherlands will know how unpredictable the weather is, sometimes changing from sun to storms in the space of a few minutes. But which Dutch cities have the best weather (or at least the best possible chance for good weather)? Here are the top spots.
Warmest city in the Netherlands
With the Netherlands being quite a small country, there isn’t that much variation in the weather between cities. So, before we get into the warmest Dutch cities, it’s helpful to take a look at the warmest provinces. Looking at annual average temperatures, Zeeland is the warmest province in the Netherlands with an annual average of 11,4 degrees celsius, according to Weeronline. Following closely behind is Zuid-Holland, Noord-Brabant and Limburg, each with an annual average of 10,9 degrees.
While not technically a city, Ulestraten in Limburg is the warmest Dutch village, located near Maastricht. There the annual average temperature is 15,6 degrees! The city with the highest temperature ever recorded in the Netherlands is located between Breda and Tilburg, called Gilze-Rijen. Here, the temperature reached a scorching 40,7 degrees in 2019.
Sunniest Dutch city
Based on figures from Climate Data, Alkmaar is the sunniest city in the Netherlands, basking in an average of 2.516 hours of sunshine per year. Haarlem and Leiden are also up there with more than 2.480 hours of sunshine annually.
The Dutch province that sees the most sunshine throughout the year is Zeeland. Being close to the sea, and constantly buffeted by wind, means that clouds do not linger for too long over Zeeland, letting the sun peek through more often than not.
Coldest city in the Netherlands
Dark days and cold temperatures - winter sometimes feels like it lasts forever in the Netherlands, so which cities have it the worst? The northern parts of the country are generally colder than the southern regions. Some of the provinces that see the lowest temperatures throughout the year are Drenthe, Overijssel, Gelderland and Groningen.
According to Weather and Climate, the Dutch village of Peize, located near Groningen, is the coldest Dutch city with an annual minimum temperature of 6,4 degrees celsius. The city with the lowest temperature ever recorded, a chilly -27,4 degrees back in 1942, is the aptly named Winterswijk.
Dutch cities with the least rain
The Netherlands is known for being a rainy country, so when searching for the driest Dutch city, it can get a bit tricky. A general rule is that, the closer a city is to the coast, the more precipitation the area will experience.
According to weather figures for 1991 to 2020 by the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI), Limburg is the province that sees the least amount of rainfall, with a range of between 700 and 800 millimetres of precipitation per year. Cities such as Echt, Susteren and Sittard can be particularly dry.
Recent international and local studies also show that Dutch cities, especially those in the Randstad, tend to get more rainfall than the surrounding countryside. As cities are warmer due to the abundance of tall buildings, air is pushed upwards and trapped, which causes higher precipitation formation and can mean more rain in urban areas. For example, cities like The Hague, Amsterdam and Almere saw more rainfall than neighbouring rural areas, according to a research article.
10 cities in the Netherlands with the best weather
Looking at temperature, precipitation and hours of sunshine, 123jaloezie put together this list of the Dutch cities with the best weather:
The weather in the Netherlands is still changeable, so this list should be taken with a grain of salt. But with an idea in mind, you can use this information to find a spot with the perfect Dutch weather to sit on a terrasje (terrace) with a lekker biertje!
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