June 2018 may end up the driest June since formal records began in 1901, weather bureau Weerplaza said on Monday.

Rain has been largely confined to the east and north east following several days of violent storms earlier in the month, Weerplaza said.

At the De Bilt weather station near Hilversum, where official weather records are based, just 12.1 millimetres of rain has fallen so far this month. The current driest June was in 1939, when 14.9 millimetres of precipitation fell.

No rain is forecast for the rest of this week, so that record is likely to fall, Weerplaza said. The driest place in the country is likely to be Vlissingen in Zeeland, where just 1.1 millimetres of rain has been recorded this month.

The long drought has already led to problems in some places which avoided the storms. Farmers have been banned from using river water on their crops in northern and central parts of Limburg.

According to the KNMI weather bureau, the rest of June will be dry with sunny spells and temperatures ranging from 21 to 27 degrees. July will start off slightly cooler with a 40% chance of rain.