THE HAGUE, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Netherlands on Thursday officially enters a heat wave, with five consecutive days above 25 degrees Celsius including three of more than 30 degrees Celsius, according to Dutch weather bureau KNMI.

Today for the third day in a row it was above 30 degrees Celsius in De Bilt, the city where the Koninklijk Nederlandsch Meteorologisch Instituut (KNMI) is located. This makes the heat wave a fact.

The last recorded heat wave was in June 2015. The Dutch had a longest heat wave in 1975 (18 days), followed by the one in 1976 (17 days).

The current heat wave, 12 days already, could possibly break the record as the long-range forecast says the dry and sunny weather will continue well into August.

On Wednesday the KNMI has issued orange code due to extreme heat. Today it warned that the persistent tropical temperatures also increase the chance of smog formation and the air quality will be bad in the middle and east of the country.