Storm Amy prompts KLM to cancel 138 flights on Saturday; Gusts up to 100 km/h
Dutch airline KLM preemptively cancelled 138 flights to and from Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam on Saturday because of Storm Amy, the weather event that has splintered off from Hurricane Humberto. The storm is expected to bring gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour when it reaches the Netherlands, causing the national meteorological office, KNMI, to issue a Code Yellow weather warning to last throughout the day.
The storm triggered alerts and warnings in the United Kingdom and Ireland starting Friday evening. Parts of western Scotland, including the Hebrides, could see wind gusts nearing 160 km/h, according to the Met Office.
Storm Amy prompted KLM to cancel many flights between Amsterdam and destinations in the U.K. and Ireland, but dozens of flights to other locations were also affected. This includes the airline's scheduled flights in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, France and Switzerland, among other European destinations.
A total of 70 KLM departures were scrapped by early Friday evening, as well as 68 arriving flights. While most of the affected flights are roundtrip pairings between Amsterdam and European cities, an inbound flight from Atlanta was also cancelled, according to data from Schiphol Airport. The cancelled departures mainly start mid-morning, and continue later in the day.
KLM advised passengers to "regularly" check for updates using the company's website, as more flights could be cancelled. It was not yet clear if scheduled flights would be scrapped on Sunday, a spokesperson told ANP. Affected passengers will be rebooked on the next available flight.
The Code Yellow warning was issued for most of the western and southern portions of the Netherlands. "Later this evening, the winds will increase, and strong gusts are possible in the Wadden Sea and IJsselmeer regions," the KNMI wrote on Friday. The winds will become stronger everywhere during the overnight hours and into the morning, especially along the coastal regions.
Winds from the south will peak around 75 to 80 km/h during the overnight hours, until the wind shifts from the west to southwest. Then, "gusts of 80-90 km/h occurring in coastal areas, and 90-100 km/h are briefly possible in the afternoon directly at the sea. There is still some uncertainty about the extent to which the gusts will extend inland," the KNMI wrote in its warning.
The warnings begin Friday from 10 p.m. through about 6 a.m. on Saturday in three specific regions, the Wadden Islands, the Wadden Sea, and the IJsselmeer region. Those areas will likely be battered again by stronger winds from 10 a.m. Saturday with a new alert ending at 9 p.m. along the IJsselmeer, but through 1 p.m. on Sunday in the Wadden regions.
Those in Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, and Zeeland can expect to be under the weather warning on Saturday only, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., and again from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The second alert was already extended to also cover Friesland. Those in Noord-Brabant should be most cautious during a smaller window of time, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., the KNMI said.
