After a summer that brought record temperatures and two heatwaves, autumn swept in at the weekend with the coldest October 6 ever recorded.

The temperature at the De Bilt weather station failed to rise above 10 degrees for the first time since records began in 1936. The cold snap affected the whole country except for a few corners of Zeeland and Limburg where the thermometer climbed past 15 degrees.

NOS weatherman Marco Verhoef said the wet and cold conditions were the result of a cold front moving in from the west. ‘There was a low pressure area over the country and it rained almost all day. That brought the temperature in De Bilt down considerably.’

Temperatures will return to a more seasonal 14-16 degrees for the rest of the week, but the chance of long periods of rain will also increase, online weather bureau Weeronline said.