After the bitter cold of March and the washout of April, May is on course to break records as the warmest in history, according to Dutch weather bureau weeronline.nl.

Temperatures are forecast to stay in the mid-twenties for the rest of the month, bringing the average temperature at De Bilt to around 16.5 degrees. That would surpass the record of 16.4 degrees dating back to 1706. In more recent times the warmest May was in 2008, when the average temperature reached 15.7 degrees.

The number of warm days – defined as 20 degrees or higher – could also beat the previous high of 20 if the forecast is borne out, while the six days of 25 degrees or more are predicted to rise to 12 by the end of the month. In parts of Limburg the mercury could rise as high as 31 this weekend.

Weeronline said one record that won’t be broken this year is the sunshine levels – cloudy skies and thunderstorms are expected to limit the number of hours of clear daylight in the month to 300, well short of the record of 329.