Normal summer weather set to return later this week (and that means rain)

After two more days in which the temperature will top 35 degrees in the south and east, normal summer weather is set to return, weather forecasters say.

Temperatures will reach as high as 37 degrees on Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday it will be a relatively cool 25 degrees nationwide, according to the KNMI weather bureau.

There may also be some heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday as the weather changes and thunderstorms move in. However, the amount of rain expected to fall will not  make up for the long drought.

The weather shift will also bring an end to the heatwave in Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Overijssel, which have so far had 23 successive days of temperatures over 25 degrees.

The previous regional heatwave record dates back to 1994 and lasted for 22 days.

For a heatwave to be national, the temperature must be over 25 degrees for five successive days, of which three must be over 30 degrees.

The hottest temperature ever recorded in the Netherlands was in 1944 when it reached 38.6 degrees.