"Treacherous slippery conditions" this evening; Code Orange in north from midnight
Rain could cause treacherous slippery conditions on Thursday evening, especially inland and on local roads and in residential areas, Weeronline warned. A code orange weather warning will apply for the northern provinces from midnight.
The roads were quiet during the morning rush hour on Thursday, with around 20 kilometers of traffic jams nationwide at 8:00 a.m., compared to an average of 342 kilometers of jams on a typical Thursday morning, Rijkswaterstaat reported.
A person was killed in an accident on the A1 highway near Apeldoorn-Zuid on Thursday morning. A police spokesperson told ANP that the victim’s car collided with another car. The police are investigating the cause of the accident and whether it was related to the icy roads.
Rijkswaterstaat also received several reports of cars spinning out of control, including at the Eenmes interchange on the A21 and near Schaarsbergen on the A50.
The KNMI has a code yellow icy roads warning in effect for the entire Netherlands until at least Saturday. Rain is expected on Thursday, and combined with the freezing weather, that could lead to treacherous conditions during the evening rush hour, Weeronline warned.
The rain will begin in Zeeland in the late afternoon and spread across the entire country. “This will cause significant slipperiness, especially on roads, cycle paths, and sidewalks where there is still snow. The layer of water will fall on top of the snow and can make it extremely slippery.”
Rijkswaterstaat has been diligently spreading salt to combat ice on the roads. Since 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Rijkswaterstaat gritting trucks covered almost 24,000 kilometers, spreading 2.3 million kilograms of salt.
Since 1 October 2024, the infrastructure agency has spread over 105 million kilograms of salt on the roads. By this time last year, the total salt used was around 40 million kilograms.
The rainfall on Thursday could also pose a problem for flat-roofed buildings with snow piled on them. “The snow will act like a sponge,” Weeronline warned. On Wednesday evening, the roof of a sports hall in Utrecht collapsed, likely due to the snow piled on top of it. Weeronline advises people with heavy snow piled on their roofs to remove the snow before the rainfall begins.
The rain will turn into snow in the north and east by late Thursday evening. The snowfall will continue on Friday. According to Weeronline, 5 to 15 centimeters of snow could fall, with some areas getting even more.
The heaviest snowfall will occur in the north of the country, and the area will also be affected by strong winds. This could cause snow drifts and poor visibility. The KNMI issued a code orange warning for Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, and the Wadden Islands for snow and strong winds starting at midnight and ending at noon on Friday.
