THE HAGUE, July 25 (Xinhua) -- For the first time since measurements began in 1901, the temperature in the Netherlands rose above 40 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) announced.

Gilze-Reijen in the province of North Brabant set the new record of 40.7 degrees Celsius.

At 2:40 p.m. local time (1240 GMT) Gilze-Reijen beat the record, which was set by Eindhoven on Wednesday with 39.3 degrees Celsius, when a temperature of 39.4 was measured, rising to 40.7 degrees later.

After almost 75 years, Warnsveld in the province of Gelderland lost the Dutch heat record on Wednesday. On Aug. 23, 1944, Warnsveld had measured a temperature of 38.6 degrees and this high was never topped afterwards for almost 75 years.

The heat caused problems in several areas. At a camping in Leusden, 20 children became unwell, of which 16 were taken to hospital. At a poultry farm in Neer in Limburg, 4,000 chickens died due to the heat.