All month, meteorologists across the country and the Dutch Weather Institute (KNMI) had hinted that snow, rain and sleet could most definitely be on the cards for at least certain parts of the Netherlands over Christmas. In reality, while temperatures were bitingly cold, pretty much the whole of the country celebrated a green Christmas.
Now, with only a few days left of 2021, the Netherlands should prepare for a rather drastic change in weather: the coming week will see temperatures rise significantly, potentially reaching as high as 14 degrees on New Year’s Eve!
Over Christmas, many Dutch cities and towns saw temperatures dip firmly below freezing, and while conditions on Monday are fairly grey and rainy, temperatures will rise gradually throughout the course of the day, reaching as high as 9 degrees in the south.
This trend will continue, and between Tuesday and Thursday temperatures will soar to above 13 degrees in De Blit - a town near Utrecht that serves as the base of the KNMI. While 13 degrees is by no means warm, the rising temperatures could definitely break some Dutch weather records for this time of year.
The current temperature record for New Year’s Eve is 13,8 degrees - current projections suggest this will be broken, with weather forecasts predicting temperatures of 14 degrees on December 31. While this week is set to be a mild one, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be a dry one; Weerplaza reports that there will be a chance of rain showers every day this week, but that it should hopefully clear in time for New Year’s Eve.
The forecasts for this week mark a huge change from the temperatures seen over the weekend. In fact, it was so cold that some people in Friesland and Drenthe were extremely lucky, and were able to dig out their skates for a spot of ice skating on Christmas day!
For now, the low temperatures mean the KNMI has issued code orange and code yellow weather warnings for the northern parts of the Netherlands, warning the public to beware of “treacherously slippery” conditions in Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, Overijssel, and Flevoland. In South Holland, a code yellow warning is in place for dense fog.