Summer 2026 was Netherlands’ hottest ever recorded

The summer of 2026 was the warmest in the Netherlands since national records began in 1901, according to the Dutch weather service KNMI. The average temperature at the benchmark station in De Bilt during the three summer months was 19.3°, surpassing the previous record set in 2018 by nearly half a degree. With August nearing its end, the new record is already unattainable, reported broadcaster NOS.

In June, the KNMI issued its inaugural code red warning for extreme heat, a level not activated even during the record temperatures of 2019. The nation experienced multiple heatwaves, and the public health institute RIVM has associated at least 900 excess deaths with the June heatwave alone. The nights were also exceptionally hot, with Maastricht experiencing temperatures above 22° for three consecutive nights for the first time, a phenomenon never recorded before in the Netherlands, even over two consecutive nights.

Climate expert Peter Siegmund of the KNMI told NOS that such a warm summer can now be anticipated once every five years in the present climate, an interval he anticipates to shorten as global warming progresses. Under the KNMI's most severe climate scenario, a summer of this magnitude would be considered average by around 2050.