Temperatures to rise back towards 30 degrees next week; Drought will likely continue

A rather pleasant weekend with some scattered showers will then lead to another period where temperatures rise to the upper twenties. The mercury could near 30 degrees Celsius in the southeast of the country, before temperatures reduce back down a bit to close out August.

Although storms were expected in parts of the southeast and east of the Netherlands on Friday night, bringing overnight temperatures everywhere to the mid-teens, the rest of the weekend should be mostly dry. Afternoon temperatures on Saturday will range from 21 degrees at the coast to 25 degrees in the southeast, said Dutch meteorological office KNMI. The mostly sunny day will have a mild wind out of the southwest which could pick up strength later in the day.

Sunday should be a degree or two cooler. The day will be cloudier, but still with periods of sun, and a slightly higher chance of local drizzle. Then on Monday, the week will begin with a higher chance of rainfall. Showers could begin in the south in the afternoon, and make their way towards the north of the country later in the day.

The rest of the week will be progressively sunnier. Most of the country should see overnight temperatures around 16 degrees, but daytime temperatures will climb from midweek. "Dry, sunny periods from Wednesday and maximum temperatures between 25 and 30°C," the KNMI said.

The high temperature of 30 degrees is most likely to be reached in the far southeast of the Netherlands as early as Wednesday. That will begin to edge back downward from Friday on, with a stronger chance of thunderstorms in the days to follow. The maximum temperature during the last few days of August should range from 20 to 25 degrees.

The brief spurts of rain is not likely to help restore river levels in the Netherlands. The Rhine River fell to its lowest level ever recorded at its entry into the Netherlands earlier this week, with output also very low.

"In order for the rivers to rise, a lot of rain is needed on a large scale," said Jaco van Wezel from Weeronline. "Local showers do not help enough. In addition, most showers so far this week have hardly fallen in the catchment area of ​​the Rhine or Meuse. In the coming days, showers will pass over the basins of these major rivers, which are important for the Netherlands, but whether we will see this in the water levels is still very much the question."

He noted that up to 15 mm of precipitation is likely through Monday, with some areas wetter than others. That could lead to a slight rise in water levels in some ditches and rivers, but the water will largely be retained. "For this reason and because of the limited precipitation amounts, a rise in the water level of the Rhine and Maas will hardly be visible. There may be a temporary stabilization before the water level drops further next week during dry weather."