The first artificial outdoor ice rinks opened in the Netherlands on Monday, as the temperature dropped below freezing in most of the country during the day.

The Doornsche IJsclub in Doorn (Utrecht) opened its doors for skaters at 8 am, having started work preparing the rink since Saturday. A volunteer told RTL Nieuws that some 150 people turned up to skate on the ice, some of whom dropped by before heading for work.

In De Lier in Zuid-Holland the village rink opened at 9am. “We’ve got mainly adults at the moment but I expect it to be busy in the afternoon when the schools are out,” ice club chairman Wim van der Berg told the broadcaster.

The Netherlands has some 450 ice clubs and more are expected to open their doors to skaters as the freezing temperatures continue.

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A strong northeasterly wind will make it feel colder than it really is in the coming days but the maximum temperature will remain around zero, according to the KNMI weather bureau. At night it will freeze nationwide, with temperatures ranging from -2° on the Wadden Sea islands to -8° in the south and south east.

The frosty conditions are set to last until Thursday at least, when there will be more cloud cover. However, light night frosts will continue until the weekend and there could be some snow on Sunday, the KNMI said.