Netherlands Geography & Climate

The Netherlands sits in the delta of the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt, covers about 41,500 square kilometres, and is among the most densely populated countries in the world. It is also among the flattest: the highest point on the mainland, the Vaalserberg in the far south-east, reaches just 322 metres.

Below sea level

Roughly a quarter of the country lies below sea level and around half is less than a metre above it. The lowest point, near Rotterdam, is nearly seven metres down. Without the dikes, dunes and pumps, a large share of the Netherlands — including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Schiphol airport — would be underwater.

Polders

Land has been reclaimed here since the medieval period, first by diking and draining with windmills and later with steam and electric pumps. The province of Flevoland, created between the 1950s and 1968, is the largest artificial island in the world and is home to several hundred thousand people on land that was sea within living memory.

The Delta Works

The North Sea flood of 1953 killed 1,836 people and prompted the largest flood defence project ever built: dams, sluices, locks and storm surge barriers closing off the south-western estuaries, with the Oosterscheldekering designed to stay open except when a surge is forecast.

The Wadden Sea

Along the northern coast, a vast intertidal system of mudflats, sandbanks and barrier islands shared with Germany and Denmark. It is UNESCO-listed and is one of the most important sites in the world for migratory birds.

Higher ground

The east has sandy heath and the Veluwe forest; the far south of Limburg has genuine hills, which Dutch cyclists treat with respect.

The Netherlands has a temperate maritime climate governed by the North Sea and the prevailing westerlies. The range is narrow, the weather is changeable, and the wind is a constant.

Mild and narrow

Winter averages 2 to 6°C, summer 17 to 22°C. Hard frost is occasional and snow uncommon and short-lived. Heatwaves above 35°C were once very rare and have become more frequent; the national record was set in 2019 and air conditioning is uncommon in older housing.

Rain

Around 800 millimetres a year, spread fairly evenly across all twelve months rather than concentrated in a season. It rains on roughly half the days of the year, usually lightly. The practical consequence is that Dutch people do not plan around rain — they cycle in it.

Wind

The country is flat, open and exposed, and the wind off the North Sea is relentless. It is why the windmills existed, why the offshore wind industry is large, and why cycling into a headwind on a flat road is harder work than a hill.

The sea and fog

Coastal areas are a degree or two milder in winter and cooler in summer than the interior. Sea fog rolls in over the dunes in spring and autumn, and inland river fog is common on still mornings.

Storm surges

Autumn and winter Atlantic storms combined with a high tide produce the surges the Delta Works were built for. The barriers close a handful of times a decade, and the system is designed against events far rarer than any yet recorded.

Light

Midsummer gives light until close to eleven at night; in December it is dark by half past four, which is more of an adjustment than the temperature.