2014 will not only go down in history as the warmest year since records began in 1706 but also as the first year since 1990 that the temperature has not dipped below zero for a full 24 hours.

Sunday night was the coldest night recorded in 2014, but at just -3.3 Celsius, the coldest night has never been so warm, website Weerplaza said on Monday.

In 2013, there were 13 days when the temperature failed to go above zero at the Bilt weather station near Utrecht.

But despite the warm average temperature – 11.7 Celsius – there was no official heatwave in 2014 either. To be classified as a heatwave, the temperature must be over 25 Celsius for five consecutive days, with three of them over 30 degrees.

The temperature may dip below freezing on New Year’s Eve and it will be dry and clear for the fireworks, weather forecasters say.