HOLLAND – An official heatwave became a fact in the Netherlands even before the sun rose on Friday. At 2:50 a.m. temperatures in De Bilt measured 29.7 degrees, making Friday the fifth consecutive day with temperatures above 25 degrees, according to Weeronline.
The minimum temperature in De Bilt overnight was 22.9 degrees, making the night from Thursday to Friday the hottest night ever measured in the Netherlands, according to the weather service. The previous record was 22.4 degrees measured in De Bilt on July 27th last year.
For an official, national heatwave, temperatures in De Bilt must climb to above 25 degrees for five consecutive days, including three days of temperatures above 30 degrees. This week De Bilt’s maximums were 26.4 degrees on Monday, 31.9 degrees on Tuesday, 36.4 degrees on Wednesday, and 37.5 degrees on Thursday. Friday’s maximum is expected to climb to 36.8 degrees.
Buienradar called the nighttime temperature of 29.7 degrees “really bizarre”. This is the 27th national heatwave in the Netherlands since temperature measurements started in 1901, according to the weather service.
Friday will again be hot, with maximums ranging between 33 degrees in the west and 39 degrees in the southeast. The west of Zeeland may stay just below 30 degrees, according to Weeronline. Late in the afternoon there is a chance of a thunderstorm here and there, and showers are expected overnight. These will cool down the country somewhat. Saturday will be rainy throughout the country, though the east and northeast may still see maximums up to 31 degrees. Sunday’s maximums will range between 21 and 28 degrees.
This was a week of breaking heat records. Thursday was the hottest day ever measured in the Netherlands, with temperatures in Gilze Rijen climbing to 40.4 degrees at 2:54 p.m. – the first time thermometers in the country topped 40 degrees Celsius. That broke the record set on Wednesday, 39.3 degrees in Eindhoven, which in turn broke the record of 38.6 degrees measured in Warnsveld on August 23rd, 1944.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were also the hottest July 23rd, 24th and 25th ever measured. So far this year 10 records for hottest date ever have been broken, four in February, three in June and three so far in July. Not one cold record has been broken this year, according to Weeronline. “A heat record in itself says nothing about climate change, but the relationship between cold records and heat records says a lot”, the weather service explained. “In this century, there are eight heat records for each cold record.”
