Monday was the first official ‘warm’ day of the year, because the temperature tipped 20 Celsius at the De Bilt weather station near Utrecht, weather forecasters say.

Although it had been warmer in southern parts of the country on Sunday, a weather record is only official in the Netherlands if it applies to the De Bilt weather station.

Temperatures usually first top 20 Celsius around mid April, but this year is not especially early and warm March days are not usual, weather bureau Weerplaza said.

The rest of this week will be similar to Monday, with sunny spells and some cloud cover at times. Temperatures will remain around 20 Celsius during the day.

However, according to the KNMI weather bureau, there is a 50% chance of rain over the Easter weekend, with the rain likely to be fairly heavy at times on Saturday. The long-term forecast is for more of the same.