Heat peaks on Friday, swimmers warned as three drown in one day (opens in new tab)

With temperatures expected to reach a stifling 39 degrees in parts of the Netherlands on Friday, the KNMI weather service issued a code red warning for excessive heat. The alert came into force at midnight on Thursday and covers eight of the country’s 12 provinces: Noord-Brabant, Gelderland, Utrecht, Limburg, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Flevoland and Overijssel. Zeeland, Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe remain on code orange, while the Wadden Islands stay on the lower code yellow. The code r...