Icy weekend ahead for Netherlands

The Netherlands is in for icy cold weather from the weekend, Weeronline expects. From Friday night, minimum temperatures will drop to between -5 and -8 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country. After the weekend some places may even see nighttime temperatures below -10.

Freezing air blown in from Siberia by a fairly strong east to northeasterly wind will turn the current cold nighttime temperatures to freezing by the weekend, according to the weather servuce. This can cause minimums as low as -12 degrees on Monday and Tuesday, with windchill dropping that to -15 degrees.

Skating enthusiasts can look forward to ice skating at skating clubs and on flooded meadows this weekend, at least in the morning. Ice will definitely form during the night, but may melt away during the course of the day.

The current weather models expect that the weather will warm up slightly from next week Wednesday. Nighttime temperatures will still drop below zero, but maximums are expected to be well above freezing.