I'm afraid that many here in the Netherlands don't fully understand yet how hot the coming days will be. We're heading for 4 consecutive days like this (map for Wednesday). 35°C really feels different than 30°C!
The weirdest part is that this already happens in June.
(It's climate change at work)
1/8
Four consecutive very hot days mean that homes gradually get hotter. Around 75% of our homes doesn't have a cooling system, despite the rapid growth of air conditioning since 2019. We never needed one before climate change hit hard.
2/8
Meteorological institute @knmi now predicts that the nights will get very hot too. For the night from Thursday to Friday, they expect a low temperature of 24°C. That'd beat the previous record from July 2018 by 1.5°C!
Night ventilation won't cool our homes to a comfortable level in such a night.
3/8
This coming Friday will be the 9th day of our national heatwave (consecutive days above 25°C with at least three above 30°C). We've never seen such a long heatwave before July (8 days in 1936 and 1976), and it won't be over yet on Friday.
4/8
Five or six 'tropical days' (above 30°C) in June is very rare for the center of the country (De Bilt). I don't have the stats at hand (I bet @Datagraver does), but it's more typical for the summer as a whole, with most occurring in July and August.
5/8
The absolute high temperatures that we'll experience in the coming days are extreme, too. For 75 years, we knew that the highest temperature ever recorded was 38.6°C in Warnsveld (1944). Then came July 2019, and we crashed forward to 40.7°C (Gilze Rijen, 25 July).
Now, 39-40°C is already possible again.
6/8
In short, this is a weirdly extreme event, only possible due to climate change. As @tinuspulles.bsky.social pointed out, explanations like 'heat dome' and 'jet stream' are about mechanisms. The driving force behind all of this is global warming, largely due to burning fossil fuels.
7/8
Of course, people in other countries are experiencing much higher temperatures with much less means to protect themselves. But now, it's coming home to our relatively rich (and high emission) part of the world, too.
We need bold and rapid climate action now!
(8/8, for now).
There we go. Sweaty morning commute on the bicycle. Temperature already 7°C up from its early morning low by 08:30.
Found the office at 27.5°C; keeping the shading down at night is not allowed here, so the evening sun heated it up nicely. Cooling it down a bit for the colleagues now :)
+1
Day 1: high temperatures ranging from 30°C in the north of the Netherlands via 34°C in the center to 36°C in the south.
Looks like Friday will be the most extreme now.
+2
After 126 years, the hottest June day ever (24-hour average) here in the central Netherlands was Wednesday, and the #4 was yesterday. And today, we'll have a new #1, by far. And tomorrow may well enter the top-10, too.
Today's 39.4°C (Ell, Limburg) is by far the highest June temperature ever measured anywhere in the Netherlands. The previous record was crushed by 1.5°C! https://www.weeronline.nl/nieuws/26-6-2026-hoogste-juni-temperatuur-ooit-gemeten
Until yesterday, nightly temperature in the central Netherlands had never stayed above 19.5°C in the 126-year record. Yesterday: 21.3°C. Today: 21.2°C. Tomorrow: probably even higher.
Until this week, the 24-hour average temperature in June had never in 126 years hit 27°C at @knmi.nl's main station De Bilt, the Netherlands.
Now, the record is yesterday's 28.8°C, the #2 is last Wednesday, the #7 is Thursday, and today is marching up in the top-10 as well.
Today is the 11th and hopefully last day of the Netherlands' longest pre-July national heatwave ever. Relief!
High of 27°C expected here in the centre, but still 32 in the East.
After this brutal heatwave, June will end up as the second warmest on record in the Netherlands, right behind 2023, and ahead of 2025.
Average temperature 19.2°C, above the already warmed 1991-2020 average for July and August.
The second half of June is absurdly hot, here in the Netherlands. Its average temperature of 23.3°C will beat the previous record by 3 degrees!
It's also hotter than any full month ever recorded here (July 2006 had 22.3°C).
#heatwave #ClimateChange #extremeweather
Jun 24, 2026, 12:04 AM@Sustainable2050
We needed it 10+ years ago when the people in these other countries were pleading and the rich part of the world was ignoring them.
Jun 24, 2026, 5:42 AMYes, but the second best time, after "10 years ago", is now.
@Sustainable2050 «not allowed»?
@Sustainable2050
Australian summer temperatures in the Netherlands! That must be a shock.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, Australia’s highest ski field (2000m above sea level), which would historically be under at least a metre or two of snow right now, has almost none.
@Sustainable2050 At least people are not freezing to death, that's a plus. In the short run.
@Sustainable2050
Last night, temperature around our house (Middle Limbrg) did not go below 27C. Thanks to roller-shades, curtains, good isolation, we managed to keep it inside at 26C. But opening windows and doors at night or early in the morning did not help to cool down.
Enjoy this coolness. This will be the coldest summer for the rest of our lives, the temperatures will only go higher.
@Sustainable2050 5 of the top ten were in the last 7 years...
@Sustainable2050
Even though it may feel like a relief, those temperatures are still an anomaly of +5 to +7°C compared to the average June daily maximum in the Netherlands. Our view of what's normal is being shifted.
@PoLaRobs @Sustainable2050
How to use this shocking heat storm to promote decarbonisation? Here in UK it might still be possible, but already slipping into squabbles about jobs in our (shrinking, dying, and largely foreign-owned) fossil fuel extraction industry
Jun 28, 2026, 11:10 AMWondering where the numbers came from. Appears to be this one : https://weerstatistieken.nl/
@Sustainable2050 44 in paris, talk to shell ...
That’s very warm.
Record June temperatures here in Australia too. What will Summer bring?
@Sustainable2050 The driving force is not that we burn fossil fuels. The driving force is that we burn so much fossil fuels. And this points towards capitalism as the root cause. #ClimateChange #Degrowth
@jknodlseder @Sustainable2050 fossil fuels seemed like a great idea at the time. They were. For a tiny moment in time. The waste products (including heat) will be with us for millions of years.
Also, to all you people out there now clamouring for nuclear power:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2026/06/24/heatwave-in-france-spells-uncertainty-for-several-edf-nuclear-reactors-but-rte-says-the-overall-grid-is-secure_6754812_19.html
[non-paywall link: https://archive.is/YBHHH]
TLDR: nuclear needs cooling. Things die downstream if you dump 28+ °C water. Also, the power output decreases or plants have to be shut down when the water going in is too warm. See https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/cooling-power-plants for details.
And to those who hope AI will rescue us:
https://infosec.exchange/@avuko/116799446090120614
TLDR: normal data centers, which don’t run as hot as AI ones, need cooling. You can’t cool with warm water (assuming there is still water left).
@avuko @jknodlseder @Sustainable2050 Oh noes! Cooling! Why has no one thought of that?!
/s
To be clear: the water-temperature-related reduction of yearly output of France's nuclear fleet is less than half a percent even in the hottest years. This is not a real problem.
In the future, we will probably see more cooling towers, or even dry cooling towers.
Because we didn't all decarbonize our grids like France did 40 years ago.
@Sustainable2050 Correct. Frequency below, no split between months (have to look into that to visualize, but glance at data says most in July and August indeed.)
Also heatwaves happen in June, but less frequent and shorter.
https://www.knmi.nl/nederland-nu/klimatologie/lijsten/hittegolven
@Sustainable2050 this is terrible. Those are Australian summer temperatures. There's a real risk of bushfire, forest fire. Has it rained recently? People probably don't realise how hazardous those temperatures can be. You MUST rest in the heat of the day; care needs to be taken for outdoor workers. Put water out for animals and birds.
@Sustainable2050 With this extreme heat, how will people live here in tents? May God help them.
@Sustainable2050 damn UV index like that keep outta the sun you will tan in the shade!
@Sustainable2050 I was watching a few videos about Efteling Park, and the guests were all wrapped up in jackets, which I've never worn at a theme park where I live. I thought "Oh, it must not get very warm in the Netherlands."
Well, it does now. Any kind of weather can now happen anywhere, which is scary.
@Sustainable2050
We're heading to Flevoland for a festival. At home we would have similar temperatures and we are prepared for the heat. But I'm a bit afraid if I make it through.
We thought (like many others) we are safe in June.
@Sustainable2050 Thank you for this great thread. It inspired me to write a post: https://kedara.eu/is-this-for-real/ Take care!
@kedara Good to hear (and read)!