Multiple high temperature records broken in first half of spring

The first half of spring was the warmest yet in the Netherlands since temperature measurements started in 1901, Weeronline reported. Multiple other high temperature records also fell during March and the first half of April.

The average temperature for the first half of spring (March 1 to April 15) this year is 10.3 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record of 9.5 degrees dating from 1991 and 2014. Typical average temperatures for the first half of spring are 7.2 degrees.

March 2024 was the warmest March on record, with an average temperature of 9 degrees at the national weather station in De Bit, compared to the typical 6.5 degrees Celsius. The previous record was 8.8 degrees in March 1991. The first half of April is also the warmest yet, with an average temperature of 15 degrees between April 1 and April 15, compared to the typical of 8.8.

Three daily heat records were also broken in the first half of spring. March 3 (15.9 degrees), March 14 (17.8 degrees), and April 6 (24.1 degrees) all had the highest temperatures ever measured on that date.

So far, De Bilt has not measured a single frost during this meteorological spring. Typically, De Bilt, considered the weather average for the Netherlands, gets 11 nights of below-freezing nighttime temperatures during the first half of spring. This is the first time ever De Bilt hasn’t had one frosty night. The previous record-low was two frost nights in 1901, 1945, and 1992.

De Bilt has already recorded the first official warm day of the season - with maximum temperatures above 20 degrees - on April 6 (not a record). The south of the country has already had five warm days and one summer day, with maximums above 25 degrees.

Despite the unseasonably mild weather, the first half of spring was more gloomy than usual, with 202 hours of sunshine against the 243 typical hours. It had just about the typical amount of rainfall, with 88 m against 78 typical.