If you thought it was all in your head that this summer has been especially soup-like and hellish, it’s not. Experts have confirmed that the summer of 2026 is the warmest the Netherlands has ever recorded.
Yep, this summer has been the sweatiest on record, ever since the country started measuring all the way back in 1901.
So, the next time someone tells you you’re being dramatic and you just need to adapt to the summer heat, hit them with these stats.
Let’s talk numbers
Speaking with the NOS, KNMI climate expert Peter Siegmund dishes out the uncomfortable facts:
“We had the highest number of days above 35 degrees, the number of tropical days is higher than ever, never before have we had so many consecutive days with nighttime temperatures of 22 degrees or higher. And it all started in June, normally the least warm summer month.”
NOS also reports that, over the past three months, the average daytime temperature in De Bilt was 19.3 degrees. This beats the previous record of 18.9 degrees set in 2018.
And that half-degree jump? Experts say it’s a big deal.
Let’s not forget those sweaty nights
Indeed, while many of us focus on how hot it is during the day, summer 2026’s nighttime temperatures are getting a special shoutout.
According to NOS, the nighttime temperatures were even more remarkable than those in the daytime, breaking records.
For example, in Maastricht, they had three consecutive nights where the temperature didn’t drop below 22 degrees — that has never happened before.
This will eventually become the norm
Siegmund also carried out some calculations for how often we can expect to see summers like this.
According to him: “If you calculate that ‘return period’ in the current climate, you arrive at five years. That is surprisingly short. So you can expect this once every five years. And that is in the current climate: warming continues, so those five years will become shorter over time.”
Indeed, Siegmund echoes what climate experts around the world have been warning: at this rate, the earth is going to be much hotter in 20 years.
He points out that in recent years, summer temperatures have been higher than the predicted trend line towards KNMI’s highest climate scenario, telling NOS “In the high scenario, this will be an average summer around 2050, in terms of temperature.”
And this could mean a very wet autumn
If you’ve been praying for autumn to come, just know that it will potentially bring plenty of rain showers with it.
While the NOS writes that it is yet to be seen just how this exceptionally warm summer will impact our autumn, the current trend is that Dutch autumns are becoming warmer and wetter.
This isn’t helped by the fact that the sea is currently warmer than usual, which in turn usually leads to heavy rain showers.
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