Hot, dry weather causing trees to lose leaves early

While the weather in the Netherlands is still summery and hot, the streets look autumn-like, with trees changing color and leaves falling to the ground. That has to do with climate change, scientists said to NOS.

“This is exceptionally early,” tree researcher Paul Copini of Wageningen University told the broadcaster about acorns and beechnuts already on the ground. “Normally, acorns ripen at the end of next month, sometimes only at the beginning of October.” He added that this had become an increasingly familiar scene in the past years, as the Netherlands’ summers become hotter and dryer due to climate change. “Maybe this will become the new normal.”

The hot and dry weather may be stunting trees’ growth, Copini’s colleague Bas Leerink said. In 2018, when the Netherlands also faced drought, trees stopped growing altogether. “That was worse than this year. The growing season is still underway, but we can already see that they have been hit hard. We will have to wait and see what the effects will be.”

The Netherlands can look forward to another week of warm summer weather, according to the meteorological institute KNMI. The days will see plenty of sunshine, with maximums in the high twenties.

Tuesday will see maximums ranging between 24 degrees along the northwestern cast and 29 degrees in the east. The southwesterly wind is weak to moderate in strength, and little to no rain is expected.

Wednesday will see maximums between 25 and 30 degrees, with little wind and no rain. There will be some clouds, but the sun will dominate the sky.

The rest of the week will be sunny and warm, with a chance of tropical temperatures in the east and southeast. From Friday, there is an increasing chance of rain, and temperatures will gradually dip to the lower twenties.