Percentage wise, web shops and parcel deliverers delivered fewer packages late this past December. Sinterklaas in particular was more on time - only 3.5 percent of packages were late, compared to 5.5 percent in 2018. The delivery of Christmas cards, on the other hand, did not go well - 36 percent of people complained that their Christmas cards arrived after Christmas or even after New Year's, NOS reports based on a study by Q&A.
Christmas
Jan 17 '20 08:32
Dec 25 '19 08:07
A woman died after being stabbed in Hengelo early on Christmas morning, the police said on Twitter. The stabbing on Hampshire, just outside the Hengelo city center, was reported to the police at around 2:00 a.m.
A few hours later, authorities said they detained a person of interest in the case. "The police are looking for witnesses, and have arrested a man for this incident. His involvement in the incident is being investigated," police said on Twitter.
Dec 25 '19 07:50
Giving gifts on Christmas has become a tradition in the Netherlands, even though Christmas falls only 20 days after the departure of Sinterklaas. "You can even see that we now spend a little bit more for Christmas than for Sinterklaas," retail expert Hans van Tellingen said to RTL Nieuws.
"Sinterklaas remains important, but you see that other events are becoming increasingly important," Van Tellingen, from shopping center researcher Strabo, said. "It is no longer either-or, but and-and."
Dec 25 '19 07:01
Christmas morning started with scattered showers here and there in the Netherlands, but the gloomy weather will not last long. The clouds will give way as the day progresses, and sunshine is expected throughout the country later in the day, according to Weeronline.
Sunshine does not mean warm temperatures, however. Maximums will climb to between 8 and 10 degrees Celsius.
The cloud cover will be back on Thursday, with a chance of showers in the southwest spreading through the country by evening. Maximums will be around 7 degrees.
Dec 20 '19 14:20
Dutch supermarkets were more likely to share vegetarian recipes in their annual Christmas magazines, with 42.2 percent of the recipes promoting vegetarian dishes, according to animal welfare organization Wakker Dier. It is the first year that that the top 11 supermarkets shared the recipes, with an overall increase from about 40 percent.
The group looked at main and side dishes for any meal, but not dessert courses. Recipes were examined for their inclusion of meat or fish.
Jan 7 '19 08:27
The police are investigating a possible threat against Heilige Sava, a Serbian Orthodox Church in Nijmegen. Church services for Sunday and Monday were canceled as a precaution while the police investigate, NU.nl reports.
Dobbelmannweg, where the church is located, was closed by the police for several hours on Sunday.
Heilige Sava had Christmas celebrations scheduled for Sunday evening and Monday morning. The church's website states that these services were canceled for security reasons.
Dec 27 '18 11:35
The Spirit of Christmas was alive and well in Groningen this week, where a hotelier stepped forward to provide shelter to a young homeless man in the city, and another company offered him a job. A photograph posted to Twitter on Christmas Eve garnered attention as it showed a young man curled up in a brick corner of the Groningen train station.
Dec 26 '18 14:20
A number of families in Ede, along with volunteer organization Malkander, offered 24 lonely people a spot at their Christmas dinner table on Tuesday. The goal was to make sure that people who are usually alone on Christmas could still have a fun day, NOS reports.
This initiative was started by Daan Overeem and his wife Marilu Kessele last year. "There are all sorts of initiatives just before Christmas, but on the days itself it's quiet. We just want people who feel lonely to have a great day, because the Christmas days can be most painful", Overeem said to NOS.
Dec 21 '18 10:10
While the coming days will be colder, there will unfortunately be no snow on Christmas this year, according to Buienradar. The Christmas season will have cloudy, but dry weather with maximums around 6 or 7 degrees Celsius, RTL Nieuws reports.
Astronomical winter in the Netherlands started wet and windy on Friday. This afternoon will be drier in the south of the country, and the southern provinces may even get a glimpse of sunshine. The northern parts of the country can expect rain until the evening. Afternoon temperatures will be a very mild 12 degrees.
Dec 19 '18 15:20
Most Dutch celebrate Christmas at home with friends and family, but a quarter of are lonely over the holidays, according to a survey among 3,342 people by the Salvation Army, AD reports.
Dec 14 '18 16:00
Trade union FNV is not allowed to organize any strikes at PostNL in the coming weeks, the court in The Hague ruled in summary proceedings filed by the Dutch postal service, NOS reports.
PostNL argued that strikes during the busy Christmas period would cause "disproportionate damage and risks". Strikes would result in millions of euros of damages and severely affect customers waiting for mail and parcels, according to the company.
Dec 14 '18 15:10
Branch organization for supermarkets and food service companies CBL expects that Dutch supermarkets' turnover will exceed 1 billion euros in the Christmas week. The organization calls this a new milestone, the Telegraaf reports.
CBL thinks that supermarkets in the Netherlands will be at their busiest on the Sunday and Monday before Christmas. Most of the fresh produce will be sold on Monday, December 24th.
A large number of supermarkets will also be open on Christmas itself - over 700 on Christmas Day and more than half of all supermarkets on Boxing Day.
Dec 13 '18 12:40
PostNL is going to court to try and ban a Christmas strike announced by trade union FNV. The Dutch postal service believes that a strike in the Christmas period - PostNL's busiest period of the year - will cause disproportionate damage to customers and PostNL itself, AD reports.
Dec 27 '17 16:30
A 38-year-old man from Voorburg was arrested on Tuesday for throwing his girlfriend out of a first floor window. An hour before this happened, the police also responded to the home after neighbors complained about the noise. Then the Voorburg man told the police they were having a "nice Christmas night", AD reports.
Dec 26 '17 09:34
Despite today being a holiday, traffic information service VID warns motorists to expect "heavy traffic jams" this afternoon, RTL Nieuws reports.
The roads will start getting busy from early afternoon, especially on the routes from the east to the Randstad - the A1, A12 and A28, according to VID. The traffic service expects that traffic will peak at around 100 kilometers of traffic jams on Dutch highways.
Dec 25 '17 16:02
In his annual Christmas speech, King Willem-Alexander called on the people of the Netherlands not to get caught up in their own little worlds. But instead to work towards forming a stronger community. The full text of his speech, given from the Eikenhorst palace in Wassenaar, can be found below:
Healthily turning fifty and being able to celebrate it with many people together is a fantastic gift. I am grateful that I could experience this this year.
Dec 25 '17 07:23
Christmas day in the Netherlands will be predominantly cloudy with some light rain in the morning, according to meteorological institute KNMI. There is no chance of snow.
Afternoon temperatures will climb to a relatively mild 9 degrees Celsius. And a moderate to strong south-westerly wind will blow in the afternoon.
Dec 22 '17 07:44
The Kerst Event Zwolle - the biggest living nativity scene in the Netherlands - does not allow Muslims to play a part in their nativity scene. "You can hardly play the role of Joseph if you are not a Christian yourself", co-organizer Cees Scholten said. But that reasoning does not sit well with everyone, De Gelderlander reports.
Dec 20 '17 16:30
The city of Amsterdam is implementing a crowd monitoring system to help keep the city safe and accessible for residents and visitors during the busy Christmas season. The system uses smart cameras and WiFi sensors to measure pedestrian traffic on the street. This data is analyzed and used by the police and municipality to make decisions on crowd control, the city announced in a press release.
Dec 19 '17 11:40
For the seventh year in a row, the Netherlands will not have snow on Christmas, according to Weeronline. The weather for Monday is expected to be stormy due to a strong southwest wind, but relatively mild, the weather service reports.
Dec 14 '17 12:00
Dutch intelligence and security agency AIVD posted its annual brain-buster puzzle online. Puzzle lovers, and anyone else who is bored over the holidays, have until 11:59 p.m. on January 15th to solve the puzzle and submit their answers. This year's puzzle consists of 15 pages with 42 exercises, which participants can solve independently of each other.
Dec 27 '16 09:54
Earlier this month State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff of Security and Justice suggested that mayors keep problem causing asylum seekers under a form of house arrest during the holidays. But forcing asylum seekers to stay inside goes against Dutch law, legal experts from the Center for Public Order and Safety said to broadcaster BNR.
Dec 26 '16 13:05
A massive 96 percent of children in the Netherlands celebrate Christmas. Slightly more than half think Christmas is the best holiday in the year, according to a survey done by NOS Jeugdjournaal.
94 percent of the participating kids think Christmas is fun, though 1 percent called it "stupid". The top five best things about Christmas, according to the kids, are being with family and friends, food, Christmas decorations, gifts and no school. The top two least favorite things are going to church and having to wear nice clothes.
Dec 26 '16 12:30
Over 700 supermarkets in the Netherlands opened their doors on Christmas Day, a new record, according to openingstijden.nl. On Boxing Day today more than 2,800 stores are open, AD reports.
With some 700 stores open, Christmas Day looked like a regular shopping Sunday, according to the site. Last year only about 400 stores were open on Christmas and in 2014 only 200.
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