Record series of 64 consecutive warm days with temps over 20°C comes to an end

Thursday, 20 August 2026 - 09:05

The record-breaking streak of official warm days in the Netherlands has come to an end. On Wednesday, the maximum temperature at the national weather station in De Bilt reached 19.7 degrees, just below the 20 degrees needed to qualify as a “warm day.” The record now stands at 64 warm days in a row, Weeronline reported.

The streak began on June 16 and lasted up to and including August 18. The previous record was 60 warm days recorded in 2018. That record was broken on Saturday. In 2003, the Netherlands had 53 consecutive official warm days, 49 in 2022, and 44 in 2025.

De Bilt is considered the national average for the Netherlands, weather-wise, so official weather records are set there. During the streak of warm days, De Bilt also had an official heatwave from June 18 through June 29. That was the longest official heatwave ever recorded in the Netherlands in June, lasting 12 days.

The Dutch weather services’ definition of a heatwave is at least five days with maximums above 25 degrees Celsius, including three days with maximums over 30 degrees Celsius. Across the country, there have been five regional heatwaves this summer, which began on June 1 and ends on August 31.

So far this summer, 69 warm days have been recorded in De Bilt. The number of summer days, with maximums of 25 or higher, stands at 35. De Bilt also had 11 tropically hot days (temperatures above 30 degrees) and two extremely hot days (temperatures above 35 degrees).

For the coming week, the KNMI expects a mix of sunshine and showers, with some thunderstorms mixed in. Maximums will be around the low 20s, typical for the time of year.