From today, the National Plan for Hot Days will apply to the entire territory of the Netherlands, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment announced. This is the fourth time this year that the plan has been activated. Yesterday it applied to four provinces, BTA reported.
Today and tomorrow, meteorologists predict maximum temperatures of 36 and 37 degrees, respectively.
Today will be the fifth regional heatwave of the season, equaling the record number since 1947, according to “Vremeto online“. To be declared a heat wave, temperatures must rise above 25 degrees Celsius for five consecutive days, including three days with maximum temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius.
There is a high probability of setting records for the decade for mid-August, as well as heat records for the entire month, the weather service said. The monthly record is 35.3 degrees Celsius, measured on August 4, 1990 at the national weather station in De Bilt. For all weather stations, the monthly record is 38.6 degrees Celsius, measured on August 23, 1944 in Varnsveld.
The record for the most days with "tropical heat" has already been broken, local media reported. In Maastricht on Wednesday, the temperature reached 31.5 degrees Celsius. This was the 31st day of the year in which it was tropically hot there.
This broke the record set in 1947, when there were 30 tropical days. A day is considered tropically hot if the temperature is 30 degrees or higher, NOSS TV recalls. In 1947, the thirtieth tropical day did not occur until September. Due to climate change, tropical days and numerous heat waves are becoming more frequent, the TV recalls.
Meanwhile, another record was broken - as of Wednesday morning, this summer has been the second driest since records began in 1901. The precipitation deficit has already reached a historically high value of 297 millimeters and continues to grow. Only in 1976 was it drier.
The water management agency warned yesterday that the long drought in the Netherlands is beginning to take on “historic“ proportions. Although there have been several periods of drought and low water levels in the past hundred years, the current situation is “very unusual“.
The combination of high temperatures and lack of rainfall has put the country under pressure for weeks. Water management agencies are calling for water conservation, and in many places farmers and gardeners are prohibited from using water. Never before has the Rhine in the Dutch part of the river flowed so little as now, and the Maas river is also flowing at a low rate.