Rain, accidents cause busiest morning rush hour of 2024; Over 1,000 km of traffic jams

Rain and various accidents caused long traffic jams on Dutch roads on Tuesday morning. At around 8:30 a.m., the ANWB recorded 1,087 kilometers of traffic jams. According to the Rijkswaterstaat, it was the busiest morning rush hour of this year.

The ANWB expected the biggest problems to start dissipating around 9:00 a.m. By 9:11 a.m., the travelers’ service reported that traffic had dropped to 116 jams covering 687 kilometers of Dutch roads. By 9:30 a.m., there were 72 traffic jams stretching 410 kilometers.

“Due to a combination of rain, incidents, and traffic volume, we are seeing many delays,” said Rijkswaterstaat on social media.

The roads in the Netherlands are always busier on Tuesday mornings than on other days. Today, the weather, accidents, and road works exacerbated traffic. For example, traffic started piling up early around Rotterdam. Several lanes are closed on the A15 toward Europoort for roadworks. And accidents happened on other roads around the city. The combination caused significant delays.

The rainy weather will continue for the rest of the day, especially in the north of the country, according to the meteorological institute KNMI. The southern half could see some dry weather and even occasional sunshine, but showers are also possible. Maximums will range between 13 degrees in the east and 16 degrees in the south, with a moderate southwesterly wind that could be strong along the coast and the Wadden Islands.

Wednesday will be much dryer with more room for sunshine, though some showers are still expected, especially along the northern coast. Maximums will range between 11 degrees in the east and 16 degrees in the southwest with a moderate northeasterly wind.

“From Thursday, it will be dry with regular sunshine. The nights and mornigns will be cold with a chance of fog. From Sunday, it will probably be a bit warmer, but the chance of rain will also increase,” the KNMI said.