Talking about coronavirus in the Netherlands is so 2020 — this year’s hot topic has been the shocking Dutch summer.
In fact, we’re even questioning if we can call it summer because it feels like it never started. Our days have been populated primarily by grey skies, pouring rain, and cool breezes.
Our shorts, skirts, and dresses have remained neglected in the back of our wardrobes, waiting for the day they can see the sun. Dreams of plunging into canals, lakes, and beaches have been placed in a deep freeze. And with the news that meteorological summer ended this week, that just added insult to injury.
But hol’ up, was this summer actually echt bizarre? Nup! The Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has confirmed that this summer was actually warmer than an average Dutch summer.
Okay, it was only warmer by 0.2 degrees, but still.
“Because we have had exceptionally warm and dry summers in the past three years, it may now look like a bad summer,” says NOS weather forecaster Willemijn Hoebert. “But if we look at the temperatures of the past thirty years, this summer has really just been an average Dutch summer.”
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Warmest June in over 100 years
If you cast your minds back to June you may remember a smattering of warm days that filled us with hope for a great summer. Well, turns out these days contributed to June 2021 being the warmest June since records began in 1901.
In a case so typical of the Netherlands, the hottest June day and coldest June day were both put in the record books. On June 13, it was only 4.8 degrees overnight in Twente, but just four days later Hupsel in Gelderland recorded 34 degrees.
How did you find the Dutch summer weather this year? Tell us in the comments below!
Feature Image: Madrabothair/Depositphotos
