Rush hour traffic at a standstill as storm hits; Code Orange issued in Noord-Holland
Rush hour traffic was brought to a standstill in many parts of the Netherlands, with drivers hindered by a storm on Tuesday evening. The storm struck the country in the afternoon, and began making its way up from the southeast of the Netherlands.
Dutch meteorological institute KNMI issued a Code Orange weather warning for the duration of the storm, which was expected to end around 8 p.m. in the south, and as late as midnight in the northern provinces. At about 5:30 p.m., the KNMI added Noord-Holland and the IJsselmeer region to the list of areas where the Code Orange warning was in effect.
This was already declared earlier in the day for the rest of the country except Friesland, Groningen, and the Wadden Island region.
Traffic jams clogged up about 600 kilometers of highways in the Netheraldns at about 6 p.m., according to the ANWB. The traffic was especially bad around the cities when the storm blew through, with the A10 around Amsterdam completely jammed, as well as the A15, A16, and A20 out of Rotterdam.
”As expected, the Tuesday evening rush hour is even busier than usual. Heavy showers are causing longer traffic jams than usual, especially in the southwest,” the ANWB said.
Infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat said there were areas where traffic was at a complete standstill, including the A1 from Diemen to Watergraafsmeer and the A1 from Tussen Stroe to Hoevelaken. There were also heavy jams in various areas on the A2, A7, A8, A9, A12, A15, A16, A20, A27, A50, A58, and A59.
