Strong winds forecast for Saturday evening have led to the cancellation of most of the big firework shows to see in the New Year. And the traditional bonfires on the beach at Scheveningen and Duindorp were lit on Friday night as a precaution because of the gales.

The Adam tower show in Amsterdam with fireworks and drones was scrapped on Saturday afternoon and will be rescheduled on January 2. The Rotterdam show on the Erasmus bridge was cancelled for safety reasons because of the gales.

Two shows in Hilversum have been cancelled, the traditional show by the Hofvijver in The Hague has been scrapped, as have shows in Apeldoorn, Zoetermeer, Katwijk and Akkrum.

The light show scheduled for Museumplein in the capital will go ahead but without the fireworks, officials said.

The strong winds are accompanied by unseasonably warm weather with the temperature set to rise to as high as 17 Celsius in the south. December 31, 2022 has already gone down as the warmest since records began.

At 3.10am, a temperature of 15.4 Celsius was recorded at the Ell weather station in Limburg, and it was 16.4 Celsius in the early morning. New Year’s Day is also forecast to be warm.

Despite the strong winds, which could be up to gale force 8 in coastal areas, Saturday night is likely to be dry in most places, the KNMI weather bureau said.

This article will be updated