The Easter weekend is likely to be colder than Christmas, weather forecasters said on Friday.

At Christmas it was around 10 Celsius at the De Bilt weather station but this weekend it will barely rise above 6 Celsius.

‘Christmas was very warm and Easter will be very cold and that is rare,’ Weerplaza forecaster Marco Verhoef told website nu.nl. This weekend is set to be the coldest since 1964.

One reason for the chilly weather is that Easter is early this year. It traditionally falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring.

The clocks also go forward one hour on Saturday night, meaning it will be light longer in the evening.