Icy roads lead to accidents across the country

Icy roads caused numerous accidents across the Netherlands on Tuesday morning, despite a warning from meteorological institute KNMI for drivers to slow down and keep safe following distances. The code yellow weather warning affected the entire country except for the Wadden islands.

According to traffic information service VID, there were "various" accidents on the A58 highway near Heinkenszand due to icy, slippery roads. There were also accidents on the A16 near Breda Noord, on the A9 towards Alkaar near Badhoevendorp and on the A2 near Utrecht.

Local roads also had slickness problems. In Ablasserwaard a number of cars ended up in ditches.

The Dutch department of public works Rijkswaterstaat deployed gritters to start sprinkling salt on roads. Since Monday night, over 2 million kilos of salt was sprinkled.

Despite the many accidents, rush hour traffic was still very quiet on Tuesday morning, according to ANWB. This is because many people are still on holiday.