Netherlands braces for extreme weather tonight

By Zack Newmark on June 9, 2014 - 15:58
Tilburg lightening
Lightening strikes near Westpoint Tower, Tilburg (Versevorm/Twitter). (Lightening strikes near Westpoint Tower, Tilburg (Versevorm/Twitter))

Meteorologists in the Netherlands issued a Code Orange weather warning Monday afternoon affecting Gelderland, Limburg, Noord-Brabant and Zeeland. Storms predicted Monday night could include wind speeds over 100 km/h, according to the KNMI, the country’s national meteorological institute. Thunderstorms, excessive rain and hail are all possible.

A Code Yellow warning was issued for the rest of the country.

The new warning follows an overnight period of heavy storms that saw buildings destroyed, trees uprooted and cars smashed all across Brabant.

The worst of the weather was predicted for the late afternoon into the early evening. The weather system is expected to cross Germany and parts of France, which could see winds pick up to about 120 km/h.

Noord-Brabant is staffing multiple fire stations with extra workers in preparation for the storm. Limburg has also consulted their emergency services team on how to deal with music festival Pinkpop, which was likely to draw tens of thousands of people today in Landgraaf, reported Nu.nl.

Train management firm ProRail is also working to preemptively deal with problems caused by disabled trains and fallen trees.

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