Temperatures to climb back above 30° this week

Temperatures are set to climb again this week, with the centre and south of the country the most likely to see tropical heat of 30° or more from Thursday, forecasters say.

The past week brought average temperatures for early July, a marked change after June’s record-breaking heatwave, which triggered the first-ever code red warning for heat and was linked to around 480 excess deaths.

The divide between a cloudier north and a sunnier south will persist on Monday and Tuesday. NOS weather forecasts around 19° in the Wadden area on Tuesday, against 27° to 29° in Limburg.

Dry and sunny from Wednesday
From Wednesday it will be dry and fairly sunny nationwide, as hot air edges closer from southwest Europe, where temperatures passed 40° in the Spanish-Portuguese border region at the weekend and wildfires broke out in Portugal, Spain, Greece and France.

Weather service KNMI expects summery warmth from Thursday, turning tropical in the southern half of the country. How far north the heat will reach is still uncertain, with the chance of 30° considerably smaller in the northern provinces.

The KNMI puts the chance of above-average temperatures at around 80% through July 19, with the heat expected to ease gradually later in the week and a growing chance of thunderstorms.