If you’ve found yourself stripping down to your tighty-whities and standing spread-eagled on the rooftop hoping to catch the slightest breeze, you ‘aint alone. The Netherlands just officially entered heatwave territory – again. Yep, really.
It’s been a muddled old summer, full of ridiculous heat records one minute and then pouring rain the next. But, ladies and gents, De Bilt exceeded 30 degrees today, meeting the requirements for a national heatwave.
It’s the second national heatwave this year after the record-breaking temperatures of July. In June, the rainy country also experienced regional heatwaves.
It’s also the first time a national heatwave has occurred so late in the year, with the prior record being one day earlier.
De temperatuur in De Bilt komt vandaag boven de 30 graden uit en dus is de tweede landelijke hittegolf een feit! #buienradar #zon #hittegolf pic.twitter.com/jmT4BeWcYH
— Buienradar (@BuienRadarNL) August 27, 2019
When is it a national heatwave?
To be classified as a heatwave the mercury must exceed 25 degrees for at least five continuous days. It must also reach 30 degrees on three of these days, classified as tropical temperatures. These temperatures must be recorded at the KNMI headquarters in De Bilt to become official.
What can we expect over coming days?
Keep your bikinis and budgie smugglers out kids, tomorrow will also be a hot one. But from things will change in the evening. “It is going to rain heavily and thunder. On Thursday it will be around 22 degrees, considerably cooler than in recent days. Saturday it will be 26 degrees again. A nice day, after which it will cool down,” explained Buienradar meteorologist Martijn Dorrestein to RTL Nieuws.
How have you found this summer? Debilitatingly hot, disastrously wet, or a sweltering mix of both? Let us know in the comments below!
