Snow caused traffic chaos overnight; Code yellow icy road warning for entire Netherlands
Winter weather caused chaos on the road overnight and is expected to also result in dangerous driving conditions on Friday morning. The KNMI issued a code yellow slippery roads warning for the entire country. A ProRail strike is also disrupting train traffic, especially in the north and east.
The KNMI had a code orange warning for snow and freezing roads in place for the province of Groningen until 5:21 a.m. on Friday. The code yellow warning currently applies to the entire country except the Wadden Islands. Road users are advised to drive slowly and maintain a safe following distance. The iciness on the roads should melt away by mid-morning, the KNMI expects.
Overnight, the snow got road users in trouble in various places. The N9 near Schoorl and Koedijk in Noord-Holland was blocked in both directions for hours by vehicles that had skidded off the road. Rijkswaterstaat had to remove ice sheets from that road with the Firestorm, a vehicle that dissolves ice by spraying hot brine, NOS reports.
Passenger cars could leave the N9 shortly after midnight, but trucks had to wait longer for a recovery vehicle to help them turn around. By 1:30 a.m., all vehicles had been removed, but the highway was still closed as the Rijkswaterstaat worked on removing the ice. The public works department reopened the road at around 4:45 a.m.
ProRail train traffic controllers are striking in Groningen, Zwolle, and Arnhem until 9:00 a.m. on Friday, severely disrupting train traffic in the north and east and also impacting the rest of the country. Regional carriers Arriva and Keolis also won’t run trains this morning.
NS will start running trains in the north and east immediately after the strike ends, but it will take the rest of the morning to get everything back on the timetable. Arriva expects to get back on schedule during the course of the morning. Keolis advised travelers to use alternative transport or start their journey after 9:00 a.m.
Friday will be overwhelmingly cloudy with showers throughout the day. These could fall in the form of snow, especially inland. Maximums will range between 3 degrees in the east and 6 degrees along the coast, with a moderate westerly wind inland and a strong northwesterly wind next to the sea.
Saturday will start dry, but some showers may fall in the west and north during the afternoon. There is little room for sunshine. Maximums will climb to around 4 degrees. “Sunday during the day will be very mild and mostly dry. Rain on Monday. On both days quite a lot of wind,” the KNMI said. “From Tuesday calmer and less mild autumn weather with decreasing chances of showers and more sun.”
