Wednesday became the hottest July 29 on record in De Bilt, the main Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) station, where temperatures reached 31.7 degrees Celsius. The previous record, set in 1948 with 31.5 degrees, has now been surpassed, according to weather service Weeronline.

The record set on Wednesday marks the ninth time this year that a daily temperature record has been broken. It is also the sixth regional heatwave day with extreme temperatures.

The number of regional extreme heat days this year has now matched the total recorded in 2003. Only the record set in 2020, when the Netherlands experienced seven such days, remains to be surpassed.

On Wednesday afternoon, temperatures climbed to 35.2 degrees in Westdorpe and Gilze-Rijen. A regional extreme heat day is declared when at least one location in the Netherlands records a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius or higher.

No additional temperature records are expected for the rest of the week after Wednesday. Cooler air will move in on Thursday as a westerly wind pushes warmer air away, although temperatures near the eastern border could still rise to 30–33 degrees. From Friday, the weather will become noticeably cooler, with highs ranging from 22 to 27 degrees.

In the Netherlands, any day where the temperature in De Bilt touches or exceeds 30 degrees Celsius is officially classified as a tropical day. Meteorologists point out that while De Bilt has only hit 35 degrees ten times since records began in 1901, six of those instances occurred after 2018, highlighting a steep acceleration in extreme summer peaks due to climate change.

Despite some rain in the forecast, the drought is expected to persist. A few showers could develop in the eastern Netherlands on Thursday, but they are unlikely to bring enough rainfall to significantly improve conditions. Sustained wet weather is not expected until the end of August. According to Weeronline, farmers are likely to face a challenging few weeks.

According to the weather service, “weeks of rain are needed to end the drought.” In addition, the rain needs to fall steadily rather than in short, heavy downpours. “Because the ground is extremely dry, heavy rainfall is not absorbed, and much of it runs off immediately,” Weeronline said. “What is needed is prolonged light rain so the soil can gradually become saturated.”

The Netherlands is currently experiencing a rainfall deficit of 250 millimeters, a figure that could rise to around 270 millimeters in the coming weeks. Even so, it is unlikely to surpass the record drought of 1976, when the national rainfall deficit exceeded 350 millimeters.