First local frost day of autumn in the Netherlands, Digi Mart USA News (Netherlands): Overnight, local frost was measured in the Netherlands for the first time this autumn. Temperatures in Brabant, Limburg and parts of Zeeland dropped below freezing, according to the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).
This is later than usual. In recent decades, the first frost day has typically fallen around October 23.
Earlier on Thursday morning, the Winterswijk Ice Association opened the country’s first natural ice rink of the season, briefly. Doors opened at 7:30 a.m., even though overnight temperatures in Winterswijk had only produced ground frost.
Special techniques allowed the association to make ice quickly, and by morning there was 2.5 millimeters of ice on the 400-meter track.
Association chairman Auke Spijkstra said he was surprised the ice formed so quickly. “When you tell people that, they say, ‘It can’t be done.’ But it can.
It is wonderful to see all those enthusiastic people.” He said about twenty people were on the track at the opening.
The enjoyment was short-lived, as sunshine melted the ice. The track was closed again by around 10:00 a.m.
Although Winterswijk only saw ground frost, southern parts of the country recorded normal frost. KNMI measured the lowest overnight temperature in Woensdrecht in Brabant at -1.2 degrees Celsius.
In Ell, Limburg, the mercury fell to -1.1 degrees, and in Westdorpe, Zeeland, where a measuring station is located, it reached -0.4 degrees.
An official frost day requires a sub-zero reading at De Bilt, but overnight the temperature there was 0.8 degrees, so that threshold was not met.
The first ground frost of the year was recorded on September 25, when -0.4 degrees was measured at grass level in Twente. KNMI measures temperature at 1.5 meters in an open grass field.
The last time it froze at normal height in the Netherlands was May 15, in Eindhoven and Deelen.
For comparison, last year the first local frost day of autumn came later, on November 16 in Eelde. In 2024 it arrived unusually early, on October 15, also in Eelde.
The latest official frost day on record at De Bilt was December 17, 2000, and the earliest official frost day after summer was September 16, 1971.
