Dry end to long Easter weekend expected today; Rainy week could lead to 23°C Saturday

Easter Monday got off to a cloudy start in the west, with more rainfall in the east of the Netherlands. But the weather should become a bit nicer, predicted the KNMI, the Dutch national meteorological office. The end of next week could even see temperatures soar up to 23 degrees Celsius, though the rain should continue.

The sun should begin breaking through the clouds during the morning, and it should become mostly dry with more sunshine over the course of the afternoon throughout much of the Netherlands. The northeast had the highest probability of rain on the last day of the Easter long weekend.

A high temperature of 14 degrees, was expected in the south, though it might only reach 10 degrees on the Wadden Islands. A dry evening and late night was predicted, and overnight temperatures should dip down to 7 degrees nearly everywhere.

The wind is expected to pick up headed into the start of the workweek on Tuesday morning. Sustained winds were predicted to range from about 40 to 50 kilometers per hour along the IJsselmeer. By midday, the wind will also be strong along the western coast.

The afternoon "will be cloudy and showers will occur everywhere. In the second half of the afternoon it will gradually become dry in the west," and the sun should make an appearance again. The high temperature will average around 12 degrees. The rest of the week will be variable with a 90 percent chance of rain every day. The temperature should remain around the long-term average, but could begin to rise higher later in the week.

When will it warm up?

The KNMI predicted an 18 degree day on a somewhat soggy Friday, but the weekend could be truly pleasant. As the chance of rain reduces, Saturday could see a high temperature ranging from 20 to 23 degrees across the country.

It should stay warmer than average on Sunday, ranging from 16 to 20 degrees. But, most residents of the Netherlands know that the first days of warmth often give little cause for celebration in April.

The chance of rain for the third week of April is 70 percent every day from April 15 -22. At the same time, there is a 90 percent chance that high temperatures will be above average.