This year’s spring was one of the sunniest, driest and mildest ever recorded in the Netherlands, with a near-record number of sunshine hours and exceptionally low rainfall, weather forecaster Weeronline said on Thursday.

According to national weather data, the spring of 2025 recorded 797 hours of sunshine, well above the seasonal average of 578 hours. Only the spring of 2020 was sunnier, with 805 hours.

March was especially bright, setting a new sunshine record with 247 hours against the usual 150. April followed with 261 hours (compared to 200 normally), and despite a slightly cloudier end to May, the month still totalled 289 hours, far above the average of 227.

The season also saw a record 39 days in which the sun shone for more than 80% of the available time — the highest number ever recorded in a meteorological spring. The previous record, set in 2020, was 36 days.

Spring 2025 also joins the top five sunniest seasons ever measured, behind the summers of 1976, 2022 and 1947, and the spring of 2020. It was a sharp contrast to last year, when spring brought only 506 hours of sunshine — the gloomiest since 2013.

Alongside the sunshine, spring 2025 was exceptionally dry. The country received just 66 millimetres of rain, less than half the seasonal norm of 159 millimetres. Only the spring of 2011 was drier, with 52 millimetres. March saw an especially stark shortfall, with just 4.9 millimetres of rain, the driest on record.

Temperatures were also above average. The seasonal mean was 10.9°, one degree above normal. March, April and May all ranked among the warmer editions of those months, and May ended with 21 days of 20° or higher at the De Bilt weather station near Utrecht, where official weather records are set.

A total of 61 days reached at least 15°, setting a new record for mild spring days. There were also three date-specific heat records in March and one tied record. The highest spring temperature overall was 29.5° in Westdorpe on 1 May.

While frost was more common than in 2024, with 13 frost days recorded in De Bilt, all occurred in March. The coldest spring night nationwide was on 6 May, when temperatures in Eelde dipped to -0.7°.