The first ground frost of the season was measured on Sunday night when the temperature in Twente went down to minus 1.2 degrees, weather bureau Weerplaza said.

Twente is particularly ‘sensitive’ to night frosts because its sandy soil cools off more quickly than, for instance, clay, according to Weerplaza.

Ground frost is measured at ‘clog height’, or some 10 centimetres above the soil. On average, the weather station in De Bilt measures five instances of ground frost in October and 11 in November.

Last year the first frost came on October 6 while in 2015 the temperature dipped below 0 as early as the end of September in some places.