Thursday was the warmest February 15 on record, with the temperature reaching 15.5° at the De Bilt weather station near Utrecht, where records are set.

While there is no official definition of a spring day in terms of temperature, some meteorologists described Thursday as such, even though spring is officially weeks away. A summer day is defined as one in which the temperature tops 25° and a tropical day 30°.

“We have broken a lot more heat records than cold records in the past few years,” NOS weatherman Marco Verhoef told the broadcaster. “But that is part of the trend towards a warmer climate.”

The warmest February 16 record is safe on Friday, Verhoef said. “We are not going to reach 16.7°,” he said.

The coming days will remain warm for the time of year but will not be as extreme as Thursday, he said. According to the KNMI weather bureau, the temperature will remain between 10° and 12° until Thursday at least.

There will be some sun on Saturday but showers as well, while Sunday will be wet for much of the day. The rest of the week will be overcast with showers and that is likely to continue towards March.