“That actually happens once a year,” says Rico Schröder of WeerOnline. “A period in early summer when the temperature is significantly lower than ‘normal’ and there is quite a lot of clouds.” This phenomenon is also known as sheep shearing cold.
“Perfect weather for shearing the sheep, because the skin of the sheep burns in hot and sunny weather,” explains the meteorologist. A cold period in August is therefore no longer called sheep shearing cold, because the sheep have already lost their jacket. We owe that sheep-shearing cold to the wind that comes from the north to northwest and comes our way over the still fairly cold North Sea water.
We will reach the lowest point on Sunday, reports the online weather platform. Then the afternoon temperature is 12 degrees on the Wadden Islands to a maximum of 15 degrees in Limburg. Usual in late May are maximums of 17 to 21 degrees. “The weather picture consists of many clouds, a number of showers and only the occasional sun.” The coldest May 29 ever was in 1984. Then only a maximum of 10 degrees was measured at the weather station in Vlissingen. We will not break a record, but the temperature is significantly lower than normal.
Fortunately, that cold period only lasts a few days, according to Schröder. “We will have a cold day on Monday, but after that it will be a bit warmer again. The temperature is expected to rise above 20 degrees again on Wednesday.” At least until Pentecost it will remain beautiful, the meteorologist knows. “Should the wind turn again after that, it could well be that there will be another cold period, but there are no indications of that yet.”
Hay fever
Unfortunately for the people with hay fever, the cold period also offers little to no relief. The grasses are currently in bloom, the main cause of hay fever. “The end of May and the beginning of June is the peak period,” says Schröder. During and shortly after showers, the hay fever symptoms may be slightly less, but if it is dry for a while, the grass pollen will return to the air. “To really get rid of it, we need a period when the sun doesn’t shine and it rains a lot. But I don’t think anyone is waiting for that either,” laughs the meteorologist.
The cold days are the end of what according to WeerOnline will be the second sunniest spring ever. Large The number of hours of sunshine this year is expected to be 731 hours. In comparison, an average spring has about 566 hours of sunshine. The meteorological spring had 15 warm days, with maximum temperatures of 20 degrees or more. So it will most likely stay that way.