Warm weather record broken with 31 degree temp; Cooler days ahead

The Netherlands had its first tropical day of the year on Wednesday with temperatures above 30 degrees in several places. In Hoek van Holland and Ell, Limburg the maximum climbed to 31 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature measured at a KNMI weather station on May 17th ever, according to Weeronline.

Volker in Noord-Brabant was the first place to hit tropical heat, with thermometers climbing to 30 degrees by 2:30 p.m. The previous tropical day in the Netherlands was on September 15th last year. Hoek van Holland, Ell, Eindhoven, Gilze-Rijen and Volkel all measured maximum temperatures above 30 degrees on Wednesday.

Thursday will be much cooler with some showers expected. Morning temperatures will range between 15 degrees in the west to 21 degrees in the east, and slowly decrease from there. By this afternoon it will be only 13 degrees along the coast, 16 degrees in the center of the country and 18 degrees in the east. That makes it 10 to 15 degrees cooler than Wednesday. The sharp drop in temperatures is caused by the turning of the wind to the cold northwest corner, according to Weeronline.

The cool weather is expected to last for the coming days.

Last year the first tropical day of the year was on June 23rd, and Maastricht was the first to hit 30 degrees. The earliest tropical day ever recorded in the Netherlands was on April 21st, 1968 in Volkel and Venlo.