December 2015 is on track to become the warmest December in the Netherlands since at least 1706, with an average temperature of 9,7 degrees Celsius.

The normal average temperature for this month is 3,7 degrees. 1706 is the year when meteorological record-keeping began.

2015 will also be in the top 5 sunniest years for the Netherlands. A total of 14 heat records were set so far, for highest recorded temperature in a day. Most of these days occurred in the months of November and December.

Warmest Christmas on record

On December 25 the central Dutch weather station in De Bilt recorded a record-high temperature of 14 degrees, beating the old record from 1997 of 12,8 degrees.

On December 26 it was 14,4 degrees in De Bilt, beating the 1974 record of 12,1 degrees. 2010 was the last time the Netherlands had a white Christmas with snow cover on both days.

Comfortable New Year’s Dive

The unusually warm weather in the Netherlands is good news for the traditional New Year’s Dive when thousands of Dutch people don their bathing suits and take a dip in the North Sea. This year it is almost certain that temperatures won’t be too frigid.

Impact on agriculture

The unusually high temperatures in the Netherlands are having consequences for Dutch agriculture. Some asparagus farmers are even witnessing a second harvest in 2015.

A grower of asparagus in Etten-Leur in the province of North Brabant was able to harvest a few kilograms on the second Christmas day already and use them for dinner. This despite the fact that the Dutch asparagus season officially starts in April.

Even his 82-year-old father did not recall ever seeing asparagus mature this early, grower Gilbert Sweep told BN De Stem. He says they taste exactly the same as the more traditional spring asparagus.

Asparagus farmers in the province of Limburg are also harvesting some of their crop already. Farmer Hub Rooiakkers told The Limburger he’s never seen asparagus come up this early. When the soil temperature reaches 12 degrees Celsius, asparagus starts to grow.