Code Orange weather warning issued for Monday; Expect school closures, roadway problems
Dutch meteorological agency KNMI has issued a Code Orange weather alert for the Netherlands on Monday beginning at midnight when the Code Red warning expires. The wind chill factor will make it feel as like 15 degrees below zero on Monday, the KNMI forecast.
Monday would have been the first day for many primary school students to return to classrooms after eight weeks of a lockdown due to coronavirus, but the adverse weather led most Amsterdam schools to their doors because of the possibility of dangerous conditions on the roads. The decision was made after school boards discussed the situation with representatives of the city, as even public transportation operators in the country have said they were not certain what level of service they could provide.
Amsterdam’s mass transit provider, GVB, scrapped all buses, trams and subways on Sunday evening. It did not announce a service update for Monday.
"Everything depends on how it goes with snow goes tonight. Hopefully, we will know more tomorrow morning,” a spokesperson for the NS railway told broadcaster NOS. The NS said it wants to “sparingly” run trains again on Monday, but no decision was made.
"The driving conditions will remain dangerous, especially in the center and north of the country," infrastructure agency RIjkswaterstaat said. Those people who absolutely must get behind the wheel should drive slowly, maintain a safe distance from other vehicles, avoid braking abruptly, and limit lane changes, the agency repeated.
The Orange alert was expected to remain in effect through noon, at which point it was likely to be downgraded to Code Yellow. More light snow was expected to fall in the northern and eastern parts of the country on Sunday night and into Monday morning, with temperatures falling to -6 degrees Celsius, or colder, the KNMI forecast stated.
The northeasterly wind was expected to decrease overnight, but could still produce gusts up to 80 kilometers per hour.
