Climate change is becoming increasingly evident, both in the Netherlands and worldwide. In the Netherlands, there are more days with heavy precipitation and fewer ice days. 2024 was tied with 2023 as the warmest year in the Netherlands since measurements began in 1901. In The State of Our Climate, the KNMI describes the weather of 2024 and places it in the context of global climate change.
Maarten van Aalst: It is precisely these increasing weather extremes, which we also saw worldwide in 2024, that concern us.
Maarten van Aalst, Director General of KNMI: “Climate change is no longer a distant future; we are already experiencing it in our daily lives. In the Netherlands, 2024 was record warm, but people will likely remember it mainly as a wet year. It rained heavily, with extreme peaks. Think of the heavy rainfall in Twente, where the water was knee-deep on the A1 highway. It is precisely these increasing weather extremes, which we also saw worldwide in 2024, that concern us.”
Warmest Year Ever Recorded
2024 and 2023 share the title of the warmest year ever recorded in the Netherlands. The average temperature in De Bilt was 11.8 °C. The Netherlands is warming faster than the global average, at 0.4 °C per 10 years. The warmest thirty years in the Netherlands have all been measured since 1988. This fits into the trend of global warming due to the measured increase in greenhouse gases.
The warmest thirty years in the Netherlands have all been measured since 1988.
The Paris Climate Agreement (2015) aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees, and ideally to 1.5 degrees. Globally, the 1.5 degrees threshold was exceeded for the first time in 2024. In the Netherlands, warming is even more pronounced: in 2024, it was 2.9 degrees warmer in De Bilt than the average over the period 1901-1930.
Due to annual temperature variation, this exceeding does not mean that we have definitively left the Paris target behind. That is determined based on the long-term trend, which is still below 1.5 degrees globally.
No Ice Days for the Second Year in a Row
The year 2024 once again had no ice days, where it remains freezing all day. This was also the case in 2023; it has never before been the case in De Bilt that there were two consecutive years without ice days. The number of frost days in 2024, where the temperature drops below zero, was lower than ever.
Especially the nights in 2024 were exceptionally warm. The average annual minimum temperature reached a record high of 7.7 °C. The average minimum temperature in spring was 7.4 °C, nearly a full degree higher than the previous record of 6.5 °C from 1998.
More Days with Heavy Precipitation
Heavy precipitation, more than 50 millimeters of rain in one day, is becoming increasingly common in the Netherlands. At the end of the last century, the KNMI recorded an average of five days per year with heavy precipitation. This has now risen to nine days per year. In 2024, there were even 13 days with extreme precipitation, especially in May, July, and September.
Above Average Warm Year in Caribbean Netherlands
The Caribbean Netherlands also experienced an above-average warm year in 2024. Average temperatures on Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, and Saba were 28.4 °C, and on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, 29.1 °C. The temperature in the Tropical North Atlantic Ocean remained record high.
Tropical Cyclone Kirk Reaches Europe
In 2024, tropical cyclone Kirk headed directly towards Europe without first visiting the Caribbean or the United States. Climate change can cause tropical cyclones to veer northward more often and reach Europe.
Sea Level at Record High
The global average sea level reached a new record in 2024. The rate of increase has more than doubled since the beginning of satellite measurements in 1993. Overall, the global average sea level has risen by about 21 centimeters since the beginning of the last century.
More About The State of Our Climate
The KNMI publishes The State of Our Climate annually. This report provides an overview of the weather in climate perspective, both in the Netherlands and worldwide. The KNMI was established on January 31, 1854, and is celebrating its 171st anniversary this year. Current information about the climate can be found on the overview page Climate, in the climate dashboard, and in the weekly climate reports.
Browse The State of Our Climate 2024