The climate in the Netherlands is becoming warmer at a much faster pace than the global average, according to a report published by the Dutch weather institute KNMI on Thursday.

Temperatures at the De Bilt weather station near Utrecht are now 1.5 times higher than 50 years ago which is double the average rise in global terms, says the KNMI.
This development is ‘very unlikely’ to have been the result of natural causes, says the KNMI.
The warmer Dutch climate has also resulted in more rain with the annual average up 18% compared to a century ago. There is also more heavy rainfall in coastal regions especially at the end of the summer, the report says.
The increase in warm weather in Holland is partly due to weather conditions in other parts of the world but the fact that the country has more westerly winds in the late summer, more radiation from the sun and relatively little cloud less also plays a role.
Looking back on the last five years, the KNMI concludes that temperatures were higher than normal for 80% of the time. And 2006 and 2007 were record years even when taking the current trend into account.