Up to 10cm of snow expected to hit the Netherlands this week

After a dry and sunny March with exceptionally mild weather, the Netherlands suddenly faces snow as we head into April. Precipitation will start tonight, first as rain and gradually turning to snow. "And especially overnight leading into Friday, as serious snow cover of locally more than 10 centimeters can form," Weer.nl said. "No, this is not an April fool's joke. It's deadly serious."

Very cold air is on its way to the Netherlands. A low-pressure area forms in that cold air, bringing an intensive precipitation zone with it. Netherlands residents won't notice much of it on Wednesday, which will be a transition day. Clouds form over the north of the country in the morning and the country's center in the afternoon. There may be a bit of rain, but not much. Maximums will range between 7 degrees in the north and 12 degrees in the south.

The weather will turn worse in the evening and into the night. The first precipitation is expected in the coming night - first some rain, but quickly wet snow. The snow won't remain on the ground immediately, as the sunny and mild weather in the past weeks has already heated up the soil considerably. But Netherlands residents may wake up to a layer of white on cars and lawns. Temperatures will drop to around freezing in the west and the north of the country, where the winds will increase in strength.

On Thursday, the Netherlands will see a lot of precipitation. The center and north have the best chance of this taking the form of snow. The east and southeast will see rain. In the snow, temperatures will barely rise above zero. In the rain, maximums will climb to only 3 degrees. The cold will spread further during the course of the day, and soon it will snow everywhere. The wind will also increase in strength, perhaps reaching storm strength on the coast and the Wadden.

The snowfall will continue into the night to Friday, though it will slowly become less intensive. Temperatures will be around freezing, with a lot of wind. The snow cover could build up to between 5 and 10 centimeters in many places. The higher parts of the Netherlands may see a lot more.

So the Netherlands will enter April with a layer of snow on the ground. "And again - this is no joke," Weer.nl said. The southern half of the country will see more snowfall on Friday. In the north, it will be dry with maybe some sunshine later in the day. The northeasterly wind will still blow strongly but slowly decrease in strength. Maximums will range between 4 and 7 degrees.

"In total, large amounts of precipitation can fall, locally as much as 25 millimeters or even more, also given the duration of the precipitation period," Weer.nl said. "If all this comes true, we will also lose the drought record for March at the last minute."