Netherlands records the hottest April in 300 years

May 1, 2007, 18:12 GMT

The Hague - The year 2007 recorded the hottest April for 300 hundred years, the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KMNI) reported Tuesday.

According to the KMNI, April's mean temperature was 13.1 degrees Celsius, the warmest April since regular observations started in the Netherlands in 1706.

The previous record, April 1794, was exceeded by almost two degrees.

The KMNI reported that in the last hundred years, temperatures in the country rose between 1900 and 1940, decreased until 1975, and then increased again at a pace more than twice as fast as the increase in the world mean temperature.

April was also an extremely dry month, with rain falling only on April 3 for a grand total of 0.3 millimetres, making the month the driest April since 1906. The previous record was February 1986 with 0.4 millimetres.

From a meteorological point of view the main cause of the unusually warm weather was a month-long high pressure system over part of Europe that decreased cloud cover and caused ample sunshine, the KMNI reported.

In addition wind that usually blows from the south was replaced by a predominantly north to north-easterly that brought with it warmth from the North Sea.

An ongoing drought has not yet caused problems for the Dutch waterways and the groundwater system, officials at the Dutch Water Board said, adding that irrigation prohibitions were put in place only in a portion of the southern Dutch province of North Brabant.

Kees Meijler of the Union of the District Water Board added that the drought had not damaged agricultural crops as much as it would have done in June or July. 'The crops are not yet as deeply rooted as they are during the summer,' Meijler said, 'so far we have no need to worry.'