Last month was wet and warm and set a new record for the most rain to fall in an October since 1906, when rainfall was first recorded. The previous record dates from 1932.

In total, 205 millimetres of rain fell at the De Bilt weather station near Hilversum. Nationwide the average was 140 millimetres, almost double the annual average.

It was also extremely warm and October 2023 will now go down in the record books as the sixth warmest since 1901. The average temperature in De Bilt was 13.2°, over two degrees above the seasonal average.

The sun shone for a total of 110 hours, compared with 120 hours in an average October.

November is set to start windy and wet, with storm Ciarán bringing strong winds to coastal areas in particular on Thursday morning.

It will remain wet and windy going into the weekend, the KNMI weather bureau said.