June and July have been exceptionally hot, sunny and dry in the Netherlands as a result of persistent High pressure zones over (North) Western Europe.
We've only had 4.4mm (0.17 inch) of rain since mid June -- versus the 'normal' of approximately 100mm (4 inch) -- resulting in a record drought, surpassing the dry summer of 1976.
Several other records were broken:
- with 341hrs of sunshine, July was the sunniest month on record (11 hours a day on average!).
- on 27 July, the temperature did not drop below 23.1C; the highest minimum temperature ever recorded - beating the previous record by more than 2 degrees(!).
- for the first time ever, the Netherlands recorded average temperatures (over 24hrs) of more than 30 C. Not in my area ('only' 29.5C).
Close to the German border, maximum temperatures of 38.2C were recorded, only 0.4C below the all time record of 38.6C recorded in 1944.
My PWS recorded a maximum of 36.9C on both 26 and 27 July.
So far no changes in August: still no rain and yesterday again a maximum of 34.6C.