An expat guide to the Dutch weather
I have been living in the Netherlands since 2010 and something that has constantly changed is the possibility of a correct weather forecast.
Summer in the Netherlands is like a boiling cup of milk on the table, which goes cold in just a while. In short, summer is really brief. You could hardly pay a couple of visits to the world’s famous tulip fields, “Keukenhof” and enjoy the look at bountiful flowers, take a sunbath at a beach, enjoy the sea waves striking your semi-clad body, roaming around in swimming costumes to absorb maximum Vitamin D, stroll in the parks a few times WITHOUT a JACKET and suddenly you realize it’s getting cold. Be it summers or winters weather is always unpredictable.
Summers are sometimes wet and cold and sometimes warm and dry. You never understand what exactly you should wear when you are going out. Well if you keep tracking weather.nl you can still prepare yourself accordingly for the day but mind you, the predictions are not accurate. After global warming has set in, weather departments are having a tough time.
Winters on the other hand take the emotion out of you. The days are gloomy since it goes dark early and you don’t remain that motivated to go to work or do anything exciting in this boring winter period. Everything goes chilly. Well with time and global warming the winters have gone milder but the precipitation increases leading to rainy winters.
Just imagine, when you wake up in the morning it is dark, you still manage to get ready and rush to schools and offices. On the way, the only two colors that you see mainly are black and grey or scarcely red, blue and beige. Well don’t think I am color blind, rather I am just talking about the color of the winter coats. Unfortunately, as summer passes by the rainbow shades in clothes get replaced by monotonous shades of grey and black, which continue for a long.
Well, this was a snapshot. Even if I have to write more on weather to caution you all, I cannot do much. If the locals are not able to predict or have a clue of the weather not more than few days ahead then how can an expat help you on this front. There is a huge variation in the weather at any time of the year.
In summer you may not need a coat at all, certainly not a heavy one. It would still be wise to bring a light, rainproof jacket together with a long-sleeved shirt that you can wear over your t-shirt, if and when it gets chilly. In winter a heavy coat is highly recommended, so are gloves, scarves, and mufflers. You may however never need to use them.
Though it is a bit funny, the fact is that coming from India to the Netherlands is a big difference in terms of weather. Since the houses in India are not centrally heated, we are not used to wearing summer clothes inside the house in the winters. In India, if it is wintertime, we would clad ourselves well, head to toe, and be like that even when we are sleeping as against in the Netherlands, where we can roam inside the house in light clothes.
A very funny instance occurred at my husband’s workplace. He entered with his Dutch colleague inside the office while it was snowing outside. He immediately sat to work just like his other IA very funny instance my husband shared with me that occurred at his workplace. When we had just moved to the Netherlands, our mindset doesn’t get an instant click with respect to weather. He reached his office and kept his heavy jacket wearing while working on his laptop, and so were the other Indians who sat in that work-zone. A co-worker who was Dutch came from snow outside and removed his jacket and hung it at a side before getting to work and suddenly he saw Indians working on their workstations with their winter-coats on, mufflers intact and uncomfortably sitting and typing. He literally burst into laughter and remarked probably within the office space we have an Asian weather apart from the snow outside. Well, they all started laughing but the fact is, it takes time for us to realize that though we are in a cold country yet, the cold is only outside rest everywhere it is central heating. So, we need to dress up accordingly else there is a possibility that we will fall sick more than any ordinary person. We need to make sure that we do not wear layers of clothes in winters rather just wear a heavy winter coat which can be removed when indoors.They noticed all Indian expats in the IT cubicle kept their heavy jackets on while working on their laptop. The Dutch colleague who entered with my husband came from the snow outside and removed his jacket and hung it at a side before getting to work and suddenly he saw Indians working on their workstations with their winter coats on, mufflers intact and uncomfortably sitting and typing. He literally burst into laughter and remarked probably within the office space we have Asian weather apart from the snow outside. Well, they all started laughing but the fact is, it takes time for us to realize that though we are in a cold country yet, the cold is only outside rest everywhere it is central heating. So, we need to dress up accordingly else there is a possibility that we will fall sick more than any ordinary person. We need to make sure that we do not wear layers of clothes in winters rather just wear a heavy winter coat which can be removed when indoors.
Well, I find it amusing to talk about the different seasons the way I witnessed them here. If I have to give one word, describing the weather here, it would be ‘changeable’. There is simply no point in asking anyone what the weather is going to be like more than a week ahead of the time. Even the Netherlands meteorological office readily admits that any forecasts further out than that, including their own, are very unreliable.
When you are settling down here, don’t forget to download buienradar.nl (shower radar.nl) – http://www.buienradar.nl
It is a really effective weather site for weather forecasts. Though it is in Dutch, you can understand the graphs well. The projection is quite near to accurate.
The only heads up I can share is, by mid-summer you experience broad daylight around 4:30 am and it continues to be so until 11:00 pm. By mid-winter daylight, hours only run between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm (barring specific weather conditions). That is what makes everything dull and boring.
Coming from India, where we experience the four seasons in specific, it was strange to experience an elongated winter with brief summer, moderate spring, and breezy autumn. Yet, my love for this country is not affected, as it has cheerful people and warm hearts to embrace you in all seasons.