Road traffic clogged up even before morning rush hour

Traffic piled up on Dutch roads even before morning rush hour started on Tuesday morning. By 8:00 a.m. there were 172 traffic jams covering 862 kilometers throughout the Netherlands, according to travelers' association ANWB.

Accidents on the A2, A58, A1, and A28 highways contributed to the pileups on Tuesday morning. 

Traffic was backed up in both directions between Amsterdam and Liege, in Belgium on the A2. Motorists stuck in the 90 kilometers of traffic on that highway can expect to be there for up to 187 minutes longer than usual, according to ANWB. The 42 kilometers of traffic jams on the A1 are causing a delay of 127 minutes, particularly between Apeldoorn and Amsterdam, but also in the east of the country near Germany. And 43 kilometers of traffic jams on the A15 are keeping road users stuck for 107 minutes. 

At 6 a.m., national weather service KNMI cautioned drivers and commuters that the roads could be wet or icy in parts of the Netherlands. Temperatures overnight fell to -3 degrees Celsius in parts of the country, and just barely above freezing along the far northern coastal area of Noord-Holland.