Thousands of people braved freezing temperatures to take part in the traditional New Year’s Day swims in both the North Sea and inland waterways.

In Scheveningen, 8,600 people took the plunge despite the air temperature of minus 4 Celsius. At 7 Celsius, the sea was warmer than the air, Nos tv reported.
But some of the 68 scheduled swims were cancelled because of the cold, while others were called off because the lakes were iced over.