NOS Eyewitness / Gerrit DraaismaTwo walkers with umbrella, today in Groningen
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 18:14
If it were to freeze, it would almost certainly be a white Christmas. It will also be very wet next week. This will probably make 2023 the rainiest year in the Netherlands since measurements began. According to Weeronline, the time has already come.
Thirteen weather stations have already received an average of 1,110 millimeters of precipitation this year, the weather site reports, one millimeter more than in record year 1998. For comparison: the average of recent decades is 853 millimeters per year.
“There is a lot of rain and much more is coming,” says a spokesperson for the KNMI. There is still some debate as to whether this will already be a record year. For example, the rain gauges still have to be checked, which will take several weeks. “But it looks like the rainfall record will soon be broken.”
The weather forecast for Christmas
“It will remain mild and changeable for the rest of the year,” says NOS weatherman Peter Kuipers Munneke. “There is some rain almost every day. So far in December, an average of about 75 mm of rain has fallen. In the last week, about 50 to 70 mm will be added.
A lot of rain falls on Christmas Day and on Wednesday (December 27). On Boxing Day it seems to remain a bit drier, with some sun now and then. We end a very wet year with a wet last week.”
November was the wettest month since measurements began in 1901. Twice as much rain fell as average. Although December is also very rainy, this month is not the wettest December on record. This is because the beginning of the month and last week were mainly dry.
Due to the heavy rain, several water boards are taking measures against high water. For example, the water level in the Roer near Vlodrop in Limburg is so high that emergency barriers and sandbags have been placed over a distance of more than fifty meters. This results in an ‘extra’ dike of approximately one meter high at the village on the border with Germany.
Also hottest year ever
In addition to being an extremely wet year, 2023 is also an extremely warm year. The year is well on its way to becoming the hottest ever recorded worldwide. The World Meteorological Organization recently reported this in a preliminary report.
As a result of climate change, the weather is becoming more extreme. The Netherlands must prepare for increasingly severe weather conditions, the KNMI warned in October. Winter will become wetter, summer will become drier and heavier showers will occur. It gets warmer in all seasons. A white Christmas remains possible, but is becoming increasingly unlikely.
2023-12-23 17:14:58
#rain #Christmas #wettest #year #measured
