According to Weerplaza, this spring is set to go down as the sunniest spring ever recorded. There have been 713 hours of sunshine this spring, with more still to come.

The sunniest spring ever!

Even with a few more days to go, the spring of 2020 will go down as the sunniest ever recorded. So far, the Netherlands has seen around 713 hours of sunshine during the spring period, which is from the beginning of March until the end of May. Meteorologists have estimated that there will be around 50 more hours of sunshine until the end of the month.

The current number of sunshine hours has already eclipsed the old record of 712,7 hours, set in 2011. Usually, spring brings an average of about 520 hours of sun; last year in 2019, the sun shone for 593 hours during the spring period.

Consequences for farmers

Research by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) and Utrecht University have shown that, since 1950, summers in the Netherlands have become drier. This year, the official shortage of rainwater is currently at 133 millimetres, which could increase to 170, if calculations by the KNMI are correct.

This has certain implications for Dutch farmers, who will have to learn to deal with an increase in summer droughts. The shortage of rainwater might mean farmers have to buy feed for their cows due to grass not growing properly, which will increase the price of milk. Falling river levels also mean farmers could be banned from using river water for their crops, and, if they fall low enough, shipping routes could be disrupted as well.