Gusts up to 100 km/h on Monday afternoon; Difficult evening rush hour, canceled flights

The Netherlands is in for storms and strong winds, with gusts between 75 and 100 kilometers per hour, on Monday afternoon. The KNMI has a code yellow warning in place for the entire country, but could escalate it as 100 km/h winds trigger a code orange warning outside the winter period, which ended on March 31. The Rijkswaterstaat and ANWB expect a difficult evening rush hour due to the weather conditions, and Schiphol Airport already reports over 100 canceled flights.

According to the meteorological institute KNMI, the stormy weather will move across the Netherlands between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., bringing with it thunder, hail, and strong winds. “In the evening, the heavy wind gusts will decrease inland, but the western coastal provinces will remain at risk of strong gusts of wind until the night to Tuesday,” the KNMI said.

The KNMI said up to 100 km/h for the western coastal provinces of Noord-Holland, Zeeland, and Zuid-Holland, and also the Wadden Islands and IJsselmeer region. Gusts that strong can prompt the KNMI to intensify their weather warning to the Code Orange level during the April-September period, but the meteorological office had not made the decision to do so by 9:30 a.m.

KNMI weather warnings as of 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 15

The weather will impact air traffic at Schiphol Airport. As of 9:30 a.m., Schiphol reported 59 canceled departures, including one KLM flight to Tel Aviv that was canceled due to increased tensions in the region. The other cancelations are mostly KLM but also include EasyJet, Lufthansa, and British Airways flights, mostly to European destinations. The airport also reported 55 delayed departures, mostly just a few minutes and scattered mainly throughout the morning.

Schiphol also reported sixty canceled arrivals, including one KLM flight from Tel Aviv and several Transavia flights from locations in the Middle East. 65 arrivals are delayed, scattered throughout the day.

There were a few minor delays at Eindhoven Airport and Rotterdam The Hague Airport.

European air traffic control center Eurocontrol warned that flights into London were already affected by strong winds, but that was not yet a factor in Amsterdam as of 8:50 a.m. The KNMI already noted that the stormy weather would move from west to east, and was expected a little later in the day. Still, arrivals into Amsterdam were being regulated due to air traffic capacity issues. Some “low to moderate delays” were expected as a result.

The Rijkswaterstaat and ANWB both warned that the weather conditions would impact traffic during the evening rush hour. The ANWB expects a “heavy rush hour” with the weather making “daily traffic jams significantly longer than usual.” Rijkswaterstaat urged road users to “be extra alert on the road and adjust your driving behavior.”