Temperatures stayed below zero at the national weather station in De Bilt on Saturday, ending a record 762-day streak without an official “ice day”.

The maximum temperature was recorded at minus 0.7C, breaking a continuous run stretching back to December 17, 2022.

The previous record of 755 days was set between January 1974 and January 1976. Since records began there have been 11 years without a single “ice day”, including four since 2014.

The record was almost broken in 2021, when a cold snap in early February ended a 744-day continuous streak.

Ice days have become an increasingly rare occurrence as global temperatures have risen in recent decades. In the 1980s the Netherlands had an average of 10 days of sub-zero temperatures a year, but in the period between 1995 and 2004 this had shrunk to six.

The temperature peaked at minus 0.7C again on Sunday before hovering around freezing point on Monday. The weather is forecast to become warmer during the week, with a maximum of 10C possible by Saturday.