LIVE: Limburg is getting ready for extreme heat

In this live blog you can follow everything about the heat in the province and the most important developments in the country.

A smog alarm was issued for Tuesday in Limburg and the rest of the country. The RIVM has issued this statement because of the very poor air quality that is expected at that time. The institute takes into account that everyone can be affected by air pollution. People with respiratory complaints are advised to stay indoors and avoid strenuous exercise.

In Westdorpe in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, a temperature of 35.4 degrees was measured on Monday, Weer.nl reports. This is the highest temperature in the Netherlands during the first heat day of the year. In the north it was broadly between 27 and 31 degrees, in the center of the country 30 to 33 degrees and in the south temperatures were between 33 and 35 degrees.

Orders from Albert Heijn will not be delivered on Tuesday. The supermarket is canceling all orders due to heat, the AD reports.

The supermarket chain does not want to send the deliverers on the road with the hot weather. Customers have been notified by email. The supermarket asks for understanding, and asks to schedule a new delivery moment itself. According to the newspaper, there is little understanding among customers. Other delivery services continue to work (for now).

Warm days are already warmer than in the past due to climate change, says climate scientist Karin van der Wiel of the KNMI. The heat of Monday and Tuesday is more common and the temperature is often higher than it used to be. “Climate change is happening here and now, it’s not just something of the future.”

On average, the whole world has already warmed by more than 1 degree Celsius per year compared to 1850, explains Van der Wiel, but there are regional differences. For example, land surface warms up faster than sea surface. “The Netherlands has therefore already warmed by an average of 2 degrees annually. And if you only look at the average temperature of the hottest day of the year in the Netherlands, it is already about 4 degrees higher,” says Van der Wiel.

That does not mean that all hot days are 4 degrees warmer than before. “Warm days are caused by a combination of ‘ingredients’,” says the climate scientist. “For example, the heat depends on the sun’s strength, high pressure areas and where the air comes from. With every warm period, one of the ingredients nowadays is also: climate change.”

These regional differences mean that it is not entirely clear how warm the Netherlands will be if the average global temperature is 2 degrees higher, the important limit that world leaders set with each other in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. That is why the KNMI is drawing up climate scenarios for our country. These calculations should show how warm the Netherlands will be on average. Subsequently, research can also show what our country has to take into account when it comes to extreme drought or extreme rainfall.

Several scientists at KNMI are researching the climate. “With code red or orange we warn about the weather of today and tomorrow, but with climate research we can also warn about the weather of the future,” says Van der Wiel.

The Netherlands Fire Brigade calls on everyone not to light a fire in or around nature reserves. Due to the ongoing drought, the risk of wildfires is high and can spread quickly, the fire service said on Monday.

Barbecuing, lighting a fire pit or campfire is therefore strongly discouraged. The fire brigade is extra alert because of the heat and will scale up faster in the coming days. For example, in the event of a wildfire, not one but four or eight fire trucks are sent.

Farmers have taken precautions against the heat and drought. According to a spokesperson for the agricultural and horticultural organization ZLTO, during these heat protocols, animals are kept indoors as much as possible in extra ventilated stables and good attention is paid to food and drink. Crops get extra water.

The spokesman says that farmers have prepared well for the heat. Due to the drought, crops have to be watered more often. According to him, this applies in particular to the sandy soils in the east of Brabant. According to the spokesperson, it is very important that crops receive extra water because the harvest season is approaching. Farmers therefore collected as much water as possible for irrigation during wet periods.

The NS will run air conditioners in certain trains less quickly because of the heat in the coming days. This means that the chance that the system will fail is smaller, the railway company reported on Monday.

It concerns the air conditioning in the trains that run on the high-speed line, because they are more sensitive to the heat. According to the NS, travelers will not notice the adjustment and it will remain cool enough in the compartments. In addition, the cooling equipment of certain components in HSL trains has been cleaned extra. In 2019, cooling systems in those trains failed because the oil they run on became too hot. As a result, the trains had to leave the track and the timetable had to be scaled down.

In any case, doing nothing is not an option with this heat. This is what Vice-President Kitty Jong of the FNV trade union says in an appeal to employers. She warns companies that they must adapt the working conditions of their staff to the heat.

“An employer must provide a safe and healthy workplace, so as an employee you can ask for that,” she says. “Start earlier, shaded areas, air conditioning, more breaks in a cool room, rubbing in and lighter, UV-resistant clothing are the most important measures.”

The KNMI will issue code orange for Tuesday in the south, east and center of the country from 11:00 a.m. due to the high temperatures. In the center and south, code orange will apply for very warm weather from late Tuesday morning until the evening, with maximum temperatures of 38-39°C. In the north, temperatures of 32 to 36 degrees are possible.

Companies in sectors that work outdoors a lot would do well to set a tropical schedule, arrange appropriate clothing for employees, offer their sunscreen and postpone heavy work because of the heat in the coming days. This is what industry organizations for outdoor professions advise, such as Bouwend Nederland and Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN).

The trade association VNO-NCW says that employers must look “in close consultation” with employees on what is needed and what can be done to enable them to work, a spokesperson said. “Think about drinking good water, not being in the sun too much, maybe adjusting work hours and postponing heavy work.”

The Netherlands is still insufficiently prepared for heat, warns the Climate Association. In this association, 175 municipalities, provinces and water boards work together on climate policy. The organization points out that the elderly are especially at risk and calls on family members and neighbors to help them. For example, when ventilating the house, which is best done late in the evening or early in the morning.

Now that the temperature can rise to 39 degrees in the south on Tuesday, it will also become sweltering in many houses. The Climate Association calculates that the Netherlands has about half a million “lonely over-75s living at home”. “They often have a more vulnerable health and lack social contacts that keep an eye on whether they are doing well.” It is precisely in this group that many people succumbed during previous heat waves.

In addition to the first walking day of the Nijmegen Four Days Marches, a number of other events have also been canceled due to the heat on Monday and Tuesday. For example, the cheese market on Tuesday evening in Alkmaar is canceled and a horse race that was scheduled for Monday was canceled in the South Holland village of Stompwijk.

Due to the expected high temperatures, more corona test streets and vaccination locations will be closed in the coming days. Some buildings remain completely closed, other places are open to a limited extent. In South Limburg, the test and vaccination locations close at 12:00 on Tuesday. The regional GGD will contact the people who have an appointment that afternoon or evening, so that the appointment can be moved.

The start offices of the Four Days Marches in Nijmegen will close at 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon. This was chosen because the National Heat Plan was put into effect on Monday, according to the board of the Four Days Marches. Now that the Four Days Marches is canceled on Tuesday due to the heat, runners can also pick up their starting permit on Tuesday until 2 p.m.

The starting desks are on a square in the sun. The Four Days Marches board does not consider it responsible to leave the volunteers who issue the starting cards in the sun in the warm tents in the afternoon. That can also be too much for hikers who come to pick up their card, according to the board.