Today's weather for Amsterdam, Netherlands9th Jul 2008 06:55

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Weather Overview for Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the quirky capital of The Netherlands- it is an interesting city, to say the least! Amsterdam lies in the centre of the coast in the region of northern Holland, and sits floating above a web of circular canals. A result of clever town planning in the 17^th century, the city is spread over calling for four main, concentric half-circles of canals that fan out from the central train station.

As the city is split up by these canals it is therefore (obviously) surrounded by a significant amount of water, this has lead to Amsterdam being crowned Europe’s most humid city! With average relative humidity sitting at 82.5% year round, this does sometimes prove to be uncomfortable.

Amsterdam experiences 214 rainy days a year, making it Europe’s 4^th rainiest city (based on days of rainfall). However, it does actually only record less than 760 mm of precipitation annually as most of this precipitation falls during long periods of drizzle or light rain.

June to August see average highs of 19 to 21 degrees (respectively) and lows of 10 to 12 degrees. While the weather in the summer is generally pleasant and comfortable, it can occasionally get very chilly at night so be sure to pack a coat. Obviously with rain falling on over 50% of the days of the year, you are likely to experience at least one day of rain during your stay.

2003 and 2006 each saw heat waves hit Amsterdam and the city recorded 11 and 13 days (respectively) where the mercury rose above 30 degrees. Because of the humidity in Amsterdam if the temperature is over 30 degrees it can resemble a tropical climate, mirroring conditions of island holiday resorts! Generally though there is about 22 days per year where the temperature is over 22 degrees.

Spring in Amsterdam is beautiful, the cafes and window sills are lined with blooming colourful flower boxes and the streets are alive with vibrant colour. Amsterdam is a colourful city year round, the quaint and quirk town houses are painted bright colours and the street side cafes are home to interesting wall artwork, so Springtime sees the city come alive with an even stronger burst of colour. March is still pretty chilly, with average high of 9.2 degrees and average low of not quite 1 degrees, but my May the barometer has risen slightly and average highs of 17 degrees are seen.

Winters in Amsterdam rarely see the temperature drop below freezing for long periods of time, though it does happen occasionally. On average, 58 days of the year see the mercury touch 0 degrees. However, 2007 only saw 35 days where the temperature was below 0, whereas 2003 saw 75 days! The average temperature throughout the winter months of December to February sits at about 3 to 5 degrees, with most rainfall occurring in December and January and begins to die off around February.

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