March was exceptionally sunny and mild, with hardly any rain. On no less than six days, the temperature in De Bilt rose above 18 degrees. The chance of such a mild start to spring is rapidly increasing due to climate change.

Abundant sunshine and hardly any rain 

The weather in March (and also early April) was exceptionally sunny due to the position of the jet stream. The jet stream split over the Atlantic Ocean into a northern branch towards Scandinavia and a southern branch towards North Africa. Weather systems from the west, bringing clouds, rain, and wind, were directed around our country by the jet stream and did not reach us. As a result, the sun shone abundantly here, while much rain fell in Southern Europe. On average, the sun shone in De Bilt for almost 5 hours a day in March. We have never seen so much sun in March in the measurements (see image 1) and so little rain (image 2).