Skating fun on artificial ice rinks, but it’s not possible on open water this week | Interior

That says meteorologist Johnny Willemsen from Weeronline. At the weather station in De Bilt, -7.6 degrees was also the coldest night of this year. Thanks to that frost, a handful of ice clubs can open to visitors today. This mainly concerns inundated skating rinks and meadows with a shallow layer of water. In Winterswijk, Ammerstol, Doorn and De Lier, for example, we have already managed to get the ice thick enough.

“To open ice rinks on a large scale, you need a few days of severe frost,” says Willemsen. “This afternoon the temperature is around freezing point and then there will be another night with a few degrees of frost, which is favorable for the ice. At night it can grow a bit over the next few days. But especially in the coastal areas, the temperature will also rise above zero during the day in the coming days.”

Because there is dry air, those higher temperatures during the day are not necessarily bad for the ice, but with moderate frost on the horizon, the ice will not grow fast enough to be able to skate on large puddles, for example. Coming night it can still freeze hard locally, with peaks of up to -9 degrees in the northeast, but after that there is mainly frost to about 5 degrees below zero. From the night from Saturday to Sunday, the cold is over and the thaw sets in.

More natural ice rinks may open in the coming days, but it will probably stay there. “On ditches it may be possible here and there, but on large puddles, you really have to be careful.” In many places it will be closed, but the ice will not be thick enough to handle large numbers of skating fans, according to the weather service. “And if you do see someone skating, it doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

In the meantime, skating can already be done in various places in the country this morning. The Doornsche Ice Club opened to the public at 8 a.m. It was not yet light when a first train of three speeders formed on the ice rink. Chairman Auke Porte of the Doornsche Ice Club (‘since 1908’) looked at it with a broad smile, hiding in his red winter coat. The work of the volunteers over the past nights has not been in vain. Layer by layer they built up the ice floor. The ice looks beautiful, all skaters who step on the track agree on that. ,,Nice huh.”

Skating can also be enjoyed at IJsclub Progress in Ammerstol, the Warmondse IJs-en Skeelerclub and Hardgaat ie in De Lier, South Holland. Members of the association in De Lier started spraying at 7 p.m. last night and spent all night preparing the ice floor for skating. “He looks great,” said chairman Wim van der Berg. The chairman thinks he can stay open for at least a few days with the current temperatures.

We have also succeeded in creating an ice rink in Winterswijk. An attempt will be made there later today to break the world hour record skating on natural ice. The track will then be open to the public.

It was already announced yesterday that several ice clubs in the country were making attempts to have a natural ice rink this week. There won’t be many today, thinks Carl Mureau of the Royal Dutch Skating Riders Bond (KNSB). “We have had very little frost, normally you need a few nights to make an ice rink.”

They notice that at IJsclub Julianadorp. “One side was not completely closed yet,” says chairman Ruud Konijn. He hopes for a few more days of heavy frost, but does not expect to be open until the end of the week. The club exists ninety years this year and they would like to celebrate that anniversary by opening, according to the chairman. “That would be wonderful.”

It is also not yet possible to skate at IJsclub Nooitgedacht in Oudenhoorn in South Holland. Although Arno Rosendaal, spokesman for the club, is positive. “Good chance that we can skate at the end of the day or maybe tomorrow.” That will then be on the ‘scribble track’, where recreationists can drive laps. “Sun is disastrous for ice formation, so we hope for a little cloud cover.”