Fifth storm this year makes landfall in the Netherlands; Hundreds of flights delayed

An average wind speed corresponding to wind force 9 was recorded in IJmuiden on Friday afternoon, officially marking the fifth storm of the year, Weeronline reported on Friday. Hundreds of flights were delayed at Schiphol due to the gusty weather.

Meteorologists define an official storm as a condition where the average wind speed at one KNMI station at least reaches wind force 9 over an hour. Winds at level 9 on the Beaufort scale typically range from 75 to 88 km/h.

An average wind speed of wind force 9 was measured in IJmuiden between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The strongest gust, reaching 118 km/h, was measured in Lauwersoog, where wind force 10 was briefly reached. "The impact of the storm is not too bad and therefore this storm has not been given a name," Weeronline explained.

This is the third autumn storm this year. The first autumn storm occurred on September 19 in Vlieland. The second, Storm Ciarán, happened on November 2 and led to a code orange warning in the west, the IJsselmeer area, and the Wadden Sea area, resulting in significant damage and one death. There was no storm in the autumn seasons of 2021 and 2022. "No autumn storm for two years in a row is very exceptional," Weeronline reported.

The storm on Friday is the fifth of the year. The first storm of the year was on March 13 and had limited impact, with no name assigned. On July 5, Storm Poly, the heaviest summer storm ever recorded in the country, brought a very heavy storm (wind force 11) and a wind gust of 146 km/h to IJmuiden, leading to a weather alarm in the northwest for extremely heavy gusts.

On Friday, problems were increasing at Schiphol Airport outside of Amsterdam, where air traffic control regulated arriving flights all day due to the gusty weather. Some 296 departing flights faced delays at the European Union’s second-largest airport, and another 207 arrivals were delayed. The airlines also cancelled 26 departures, and 27 arrivals by 6:30 p.m.

There were a handful of train disruptions during the evening rush hour, including a tree which fell on the tracks in Friesland. A replacement bus service was running between Leeuwarden and Hurdegaryp, where trains were running to and from Groningen. The overhead lines also failed east of Woerden. That cut-off service between Utrecht Centraal and Gouda, where trains continue to Rotterdam and The Hague. While the issue in Friesland was expected to be cleared around 6:15 p.m., the damaged catenary near Woerden was unlikely to be repaired before 9 p.m.

Rush hour traffic was also busy earlier in the evening, with over 615 kilometers of traffic jams at around 5:15 p.m., according to travel association ANWB. The roadways were particularly bad along the A2, A12, A15, A27 and A50. That improved to about 251 kilometers an hour later, with the heaviest traffic around Rotterdam and westbound traffic on the A12 from De Meern to Bodegraven.