Winter weather hits Netherlands; icy roads warning from tonight

The Netherlands is in for cold weather in the coming week, with night time temperatures dropping below zero and maximums climbing to only just above freezing. Meteorological institute KNMI issued a code yellow warning for icy roads, starting from Thursday evening.

Thursday will be partly cloudy with winter showers, which may be accompanied by thunderstorms, according to the KNMI. In the afternoon there is a chance of wet snow. Between the showers, maximums will climb to around 5 degrees. During the showers, the temperature can drop to 1 degree Celsius.

From this weekend, it will get really cold, according to Weeronline. Overnight temperatures will drop to between -2 and -8 degrees Celsius, and maximums will climb to just above zero. The weekend and first part of next week will be fairly sunny and dry. But halfway through the week, the chance of winter showers increases.

As it will be freezing at night, and only thaw for a few hours during the day, Weeronline considers it likely that flooded meadows and natural skating rinks will freeze enough for some skating fun by the end of next week. Skating enthusiasts will still have to wait before getting out on the ditches, ponds and lakes, however. Due to the mild weather in the first half of the winter, water temperatures in many places are still relatively high, and the ice that forms will not be thick enough to skate on safely.