December is shaping up to be the third wettest since records began in 2006, while Christmas Day was the second warmest on record at 12 Celsius, according to weather bureaus on Tuesday.

So far this month there has been 152 mm of rainfall, compared with some 80 mm in an average year, weeronline.nl said. November 2011 was the driest on record.
December has also been exceptionally mild with an average temperature of 6.3 Celsius, compared with 3.7 Celsius in a normal year. There has been just one night of frost at the Bilt weather station, where the main readings are taken. In a normal December there are around 13.