Beautiful weather, more crowds expected for Pentecost weekend

The long Pentecost weekend is expected to be sunny and warm, with no showers predicted. And with terraces being allowed to open at noon on Pentecost Monday, crowds are again expected to gather in popular outdoor areas.

Plenty of sunshine is expected for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, according to Weeronline. On all three days, maximums will range from 19 degrees Celsius on the Wadden, 22 degrees in Amsterdam, and up to 25 degrees in the southern parts of the country. 

Based on previous sunny and warm holidays and weekends, crowds are expected to gather in outdoor recreational areas. Some are taking extra measures to ensure that people keep 1.5 meters apart. The Marineterrein in Amsterdam, that got so crowded on Ascension Day that the authorities had to call people to go home, placed swimming lines in its harbor, so people can better judge the distance between themselves and others.

Restaurants, cafes and other catering establishments are also getting ready to finally open their terraces to customers again. Hubert Bruls, Nijmegen mayor and chairman of the Security Council, said that mayors will not be deploying extra enforcement to maintain social distancing on terraces. That responsibility lies with the catering establishments and the customers themselves, he said. The municipality will only intervene if things get out of hand and public order is at stake, he said.

Amsterdam decided to temporarily allow catering establishments to expand their terraces, where possible, so that they can make optimal use of this relaxation of coronavirus measures while still being safe.