Third rainiest New Year’s Day since Dutch record keeping began in 1901

The 15.1 millimeters of rain measured at the National Weather Station in De Bilt made New Year’s Day of 2025 the third wettest since the weather institute, the KNMI, started keeping track of the weather in 1901.

The most rain ever to fall on the first day of the year came in 1943 (19.1 millimeters) followed by 1939 and 2003, which both had 16.9 millimeters of rain, weather bureau Weeronline reported on Thursday. For comparison: 2024 started with 10.3 millimeters of rain at De Bilt.

The storm that raged across the country on Wednesday is the seventh to fall on New Year’s Day, according to KNMI. The other storms came on the first day of 1995, 1976, 1949, 1925, and 1916.

Weeronline also thought at one point that 2025 was going to be the first New Year’s Day with a heavy storm. However, the required hourly average of wind force 10 was not achieved, according to the weather bureau.

The temperature on New Year’s Day was significantly lower than in the previous two years. The maximum temperature went up to 9.1 degrees Celsius compared to 2023 when it went over 15 degrees Celsius, and 2022 when it was a maximum of 13.2 degrees.

Low temperatures are expected for the first few days of the year, with a possibility of snow on Sunday. The highest temperatures will likely be on Sunday and Monday, with temperatures of around five degrees Celsius expected for the next few days.