Every year, we hold out hope that we might be blessed on Christmas Day with the kind of snowy scene that graces the front of our Christmas cards. Alas, all the signs are pointing to 2023 not being that year. Rather than a White Christmas in the Netherlands, it looks set to be a soggy one.
Chances of snow on Christmas in the Netherlands very small in 2023
The latest weather forecasts suggest that the chances of having a White Christmas in 2023 are very, very small. According to WeerOnline, the temperature will drop as we head into the Christmas holidays next week, but only to around five to eight degrees, meaning that any precipitation will almost certainly fall as rain, rather than snow.
And precipitation does seem to be on the cards: according to the Dutch Weather Institute (KNMI), there is an “approximately 80 percent” chance that the variable, wet weather we’ve been seeing in recent weeks will carry us right through from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day. Temperatures will hover around six degrees during the day, falling to around two degrees at night.
This doesn’t rule out the possibility of snow, however: if things get a little colder than predicted, we might get some wet snow over the holidays. WeerOnline said that a few wintry showers weren’t out of the question, but that rain and hail are much more likely.
There have been 8 White Christmas in the Netherlands
Officially, it counts as a White Christmas in the Netherlands if there is measurable snowfall on both December 25 and December 26. The odds are forever against us, unfortunately, as this has only happened eight times since records began, and not once in the last 12 years. The last White Christmas took place in 2010.
So far, this December has been warmer than average, with temperatures lingering between eight and one degrees. Last year, it was between seven and 12 degrees on Christmas Day.