The oak tree on the central divider of the A58 highway in Noord-Brabant was elected the Tree of the Year. A total of 2,834 people voted for the Troeteleik, as the tree is affectionately known. The so-called Troostboom on estate TerWorm in Heerlen came in second place with 1,858 votes, NU.nl reports.
The election was organized by SBNL Natuurfonds. The oak will now compete for the title of European Tree of the Year.
The drought in the Netherlands is still persisting. On Monday afternoon the water level in the Rijn river at Lobith was 6.73 meters above sea level, thereby breaking the previous low record of 6.87 meters from August, De Gelderlander reports.
The unseasonably warm weather will remain in the Netherlands for a few days yet, according to Weerplaza. This is because the remnants of tropical hurricanes Leslie an Michael are leaving over the Mediterranean, instead of crossing our country as expected.
On Monday maximum temperatures will rise to between 22 and 25 degrees. It will be mostly sunny and dry. Tuesday will also still be sunny and warm, with maximums between 21 and 25 degrees expected.
The Avifauna bird park proudly welcomed a new resident. A baby kiwi recently hatched at the zoo. This is the first time ever that a kiwi is born in the Netherlands. Only 16 zoos around the world have a breeding program for kiwis. And Avifauna in Alphen aan den Rijn is the only zoo where a kiwi hatched this year, the zoo announced on Thursday.
An 80-year-old Dutch woman died during storms on the Spanish island of Mallorca, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Wednesday evening following reports in Spanish media. The victim's family has been informed, ANP reports.
Mallorca was hit by large storms on Tuesday. Heavy rainfall caused flooding on the east of the island.
At least 10 people, including the Dutch woman, died in the severe weather. One child is still missing, according to th Spanish emergency response service.
Mallorca is a popular tourist destination.
A criminal investigation into NAM was launched because of the leak of toxic natural gas condensate into a canal in Farmsum, Groningen, the State supervisor on mines SodM announced. A stain of natural gas condensate has been floating in the canal since Thursday, NU.nl reports.
Natural gas condensate is a byproduct of natural gas extraction. It is a very toxic substance. It leaked into the canal after a drip tray in which the condensate was collected overflowed, according to the newspaper.
The Dutch State must do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the court in The Hague ruled after dismissing each of the state attorney's arguments one after the other. The Hague court therefore maintains a previous ruling three years ago that was a groundbreaking victory for environmental organization Urgenda.
The lion cub found dumped in a meadow in Tienhoven on Sunday, is doing well at Stichting Leeuw, the foundation said on Facebook. "Between all the hectic, the little one is entertaining himself well, eating and drinking well and still sleeping a lot", the foundation said. The foundation named the cub Remy.
This week will be sunny and warm in the Netherlands, with temperatures expected to climb up to 25 degrees during the course of the week. Such high temperatures this late in the year are "quite exceptional", according to Weerplaza. A number of weather records stand to be broken.
The warm temperatures are brought by hot air from the Mediterranean region, according to Weeronline. On Wednesday and Thursday temperatures will rise to 20 degrees on the Wadden islands and along the coast, 24 degrees inland, and even 26 degrees in Zuid-Limburg.
A passerby made a remarkable discovery while jogging in Tienhoven on Sunday morning. He found a lion cub in a small cage in a meadow on Burgemeester Huijdecoperweg. The police believe the young animal was dumped there. They're looking for witnesses.
The Dutch food and consumer product safety authority NVWA is investigating, because they have more experience in this field, the police said on Facebook.
In the next three years Amsterdam will deliver all trees cut down in the city to the Stadshout Foundation, which will process the trees in a sustainable manner and give the wood new life n the city in the form of street furniture or decoration, the municipality announced in a press release.
With a maximum temperature of 10.9 degrees measured in De Bilt, Sunday was officially the coldest September 23rd ever measured in the Netherlands, Weeronline reports. The previous cold record for this day was 11.5 degrees on September 23rd, 1974. Sunday was also the coldest day in the Netherlands since April 5th.
The chilly weather on Sunday stood in stark contrast against the warm late summer weather of the past week. On Tuesday Maastricht even had a last tropical day, with a maximum above 30 degrees.
Autumn weather started in the Netherlands on Friday with a storm that triggered a code yellow warning for strong winds from meteorological institute KNMI. By 2:40 p.m. a total of 260 flights had been canceled at Schiphol airport. Due to the wind, not all of the airport's runways can be used.
A westerly storm is forecast to hit the Netherlands on Friday. Schiphol therefore warns that flights from or to the airport may be delayed or canceled. Travelers are advised to check their current flight information before leaving for the airport.
Meteorological institute KNMI issued a code yellow weather warning for a large part of the Netherlands on Friday. Winds up to 85 kilometers per hour are expected. Due to the strong winds, some of Schiphol's runways can't be used.
The airport already reports a large number of canceled departures and arrivals on its website.
An increasing number of cranes are nesting and breeding in the Netherlands, according to bird protection organization Vogelbescherming. This year a record number of 32 breeding pairs were counted, 10 more than last year and four times as many as in 2014.
Most cranes were spotted in Drenthe and Friesland as in previous years. But this year cranes were also found breeding in Noord-Brabant and Limburg for the first time. Twelve of the 32 breeding pairs actually hatched chicks.
A large autumn storm will hit the Netherlands on Sunday, Buienradar expects. Wind gusts of over 100 kilometers per hour can be expected. "The storm also brings a ot of rain with it, so stay indoors with cake and soup", Nicolien Kroon of Buienradar said to RTL Nieuws.
"It seems we can prepare for wind force 8 or 9", Kroon said. "The chance that trees will fall over is greater, because they are all still in leaf because of the beautiful summer."
Wednesday and Thursday will be sunny and warm in the Netherlands, but those will be the last summer days for the country this year, Weerplaza expects. Cool autumn weather is on the way.
Wednesday will by sunny and largely dry. Maximum temperatures will range from 21 degrees Celsius on the Wadden to around 27 degrees inland. The coastal provinces will see some cloud cover, but the rest of the country will be mostly sunny. Thursday will also be largely sunny with maximums around 24 degrees.
Temperatures climbed to 20.1 degrees in De Bilt on Sunday, making Sunday the 116th official warm day in the Netherlands this year. Maximum temperatures are expected to climb to 22 degrees in De Bilt on Monday, which means that the 116 warm days record from 2003 will be broken, Weeronline reports.
Up to and including Thursday, the record number of official warm days is expected to climb to 120, according to the weather service. An official warm day is when temperatures climb to over 20 degrees at the national weather station in De Bilt.
Eighty of the 298 trees planted at the National MH17 Monument in Vijfhuizen Park next to Schiphol Airport, have died. One tree was planted for each victim who died in the disaster with the Malaysia Airlines flight.
Last year CO2 emissions in the Netherlands were at the same level as in 1990, Statistics Netherlands reported. Though the emission of other greenhouse gasses - methane, nitrous oxide and F-gasses - halved in that period. The total greenhouse gas emissions were 13 percent lower in 2017 than in 1990.
A total of 163 billion kilograms of CO2 were emitted in the Netherlands last year, about the same as in 1990. Though the stats office points out that the sectors that produce greenhouse gasses have grown considerably since 1990.
While the Caribbean had a quiet hurricane season so far this year, that may change in the coming days. On Thursday or Friday Dutch time, Hurricane Isaac will cross paths with the Windward Islands. The Dutch islands of Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius can expect some extreme weather with very strong winds and lots of rain, Weeronline reports.
The great ocean cleanup by 24-year-old Dutch man Boyan Slat and his company Ocean Cleanup is finally underway. Slat's 600 meter long 'plastic catcher' departed from San Francisco on Saturday and is on its way to clean up the plastic soup in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, NOS reports.
Parts of the Randstad area got more rain on Wednesday than usually falls in the entire month of September. Between 40 and 70 millimeters of rain fell in Zuid-Holland, Noord-Holland and Utrecht on Tuesday, according to Weeronline. Nieuwkoop got a massive 130 mm or rain.
The provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Utrecht were faced with heavy rainfall on Wednesday. The A20 to Rotterdam had to be closed for several hours due to flooding. Streets in various places were also under water, NU.nl reports.
Public works department Rijkswaterstaat closed the A20 highway at the Kleinpolderplein junction around 11:00 a.m. because the road surface was under water to such an extent that it was unsafe to drive over it. The highway was reopened around 1:15 p.m.
