Despite a spell of snow and ice in January and early February, this winter was fairly mild, with higher than average temperatures, weather forecasters say.

The average temperature at the De Bilt weather station near Utrecht was 4.8°, higher than the 4.1° recorded in recent winters, weather service Weeronline said on Thursday. The meteorological winter runs from December 1 to March 1.

Regional differences were, however, marked with much lower averages in northern parts of the country where the snow and ice were long lasting.

In Nieuw-Beerta in north-east Groningen, the average temperature was 2.6°, below its recent winter average of 3.1°. By contrast, Vlissingen in Zeeland recorded the highest winter average at 5.6°, above its normal winter temperature of 5°.

De Bilt registered 31 days on which minimum temperatures fell below freezing, and two ice days, when temperatures stayed below 0° throughout the day.

The coldest winter on record is that of 1963, when frost was measured on 81 days in De Bilt.

Weeronline says the current warm, sunny spell will run until Friday afternoon, when rain will move in. The weekend will be changeable, with more rain on Saturday than Sunday and temperatures hitting around 12°.