Gusty winds trigger weather warning; Carnival parades cancelled

The Netherlands meteorological institute KNMI issued a code yellow warning for strong winds up to 100 kilometers per hour for almost the whole country, with the exception of the eastern provinces. The strong winds resulted in a number of Carnival parades being cancelled or postponed, including those in Den Bosch, Breda, Roermond, Geleen and Venlo. The strong winds will particularly cause problems for carnival parades scheduled for Monday afternoon and evening. Breda rescheduled their parade for March 6th. Den Bosch is also considering holding the parade on that date. Den Bosch Carnival organization Oetedonksche Club decided that the weather would make holding the parade too dangerous for the public. "Dut to the rain and wind parts of the floats can blow into the audience", a spokesperson said to the Telegraaf. "For now March 6th is planned as an alternative date." Roermond also decided that it would be too dangerous to hold the parade on Monday. A number of towns in Brabant and Limburg, including Schaijk, Macharen, Overlangel, Hapert, Oijen and Montfort, cancelled their parades on Monday. In Schaijk and Montfort the Carnival parades will happen on Tuesday. Brunssum initially decided to hold the parade without floats, but later decided to cancel it completely. In other places the organizations, in consultation with the municipality and police, decided that the parades can go on as planned. The Kerkrade parade, for example, will continue unaffected. The code yellow warning for strong winds will be in effect between 2:00 p.m. and midnight on Monday for all provinces except Gelderland, Overijssel, Friesland and Groningen