While rescue teams up and down the country warn people if they plan to take a New Year’s Dip tomorrow to make sure they do it at a designated beach. Unox soup company, which sponsors a number of New Year’s dips, says the “dip of all dips” at Scheveningen, near The Hague, will go ahead. Only if the temperature drops below minus 10 degrees Celcius will the event be scrapped.

Nevertheless, New Year’s dips have been cancelled at a number of locations because the water is frozen, or because of the low temperatures. Rescue teams have urged people to take heed of local advice and to consider whether they are fit enough to swim in freezing cold water. The New Year's swim in the Friesian town of Lemmer in the north has been cancelled as the windchill factor is expected to bring temperatures down to below minus 10. With two centimetres of ice on the water, would-be New Year’s swimmers would have to break open a hole first.

Ten thousand people are expected to turn out at Scheveningen on New Year’s Day. Unox is sponsoring 68 dips up and down the country. Although local organisations will decided whether the event will go ahead.

Anyone foolhardy enough to want to run into the ice-cold water on New Year’s Day is advised to make sure they eat something first, rub in with Vaseline, not to stay in the water for too long, dry off quickly, get dressed quickly and to drink something warm afterwards. People are warned not to enter the water under the influence of drink or drugs.

Photo: New Year's dip at Schreveningen - Wikimedia Creative Commons/Roel1943