Multiple accidents reported on icy roads; High winds to return
Local slippery conditions on the roadways in various parts of the country led to several multi-vehicle accidents on Tuesday morning. Weather agency KNMI also issued another Code Yellow warning for icy roads on Wednesday morning in the central and eastern parts of the Netherlands, and for high winds along the coastal areas and in the northern provinces. Those regions were expected to again be battered by 100 km/h wind gusts.
Five vehicles collided in a pile-up accident on the A348 between Doesburg and Arnhem at De Steeg. One of the vehicles in the 5:30 a.m. crash was an ambulance transporting a patient. More ambulances arrived on scene to get the patient to a hospital, and also to transport an injured driver to a medical facility. A section of the highway towards Arnhem remained closed for over two hours.
An other accident took place on the A12 from The Hague to Utrecht near the Gouwe junction on Monday morning. That also forced the closure of two lanes for a short period of time.
“On Tuesday morning, local traffic has had to deal with slippery conditions due to winter showers. Especially just after such a shower passed, the highways were often very slick. Traffic had the most delays due to the slipperiness on the A7 near Purmerend and on the A58 near Eindhoven,” said travel association ANWB in a statement.
During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday localized slippery conditions are expected due to snow and precipitation, especially in the east and southeast, Dutch meteorological institute KNMI said. Though temperatures could reach five degrees in most of the Netherlands by the afternoon, the mercury will dip to at least the freezing point nearly everywhere overnight.
On top of that, another Code Yellow weather warning was issued for portions of the Dutch coast and the northern provinces to take effect early Wednesday morning into rush hour. Heavy gusts of wind of between 80 and 100 km/h are also possible from a northwestern direction, KNMI said in their warning. The windy day will likely bring hail and sleet, though by the afternoon it should be slightly warmer than on Tuesday, but the wind should taper off a bit into the evening.
With any luck, the clouds will break for sunshine on Thursday, when temperatures could reach up to nine degrees as the wind shifts from out of the south. A few moderate days to end the week will likely move aside for more cold, blustery weather on Sunday and Monday as the winds from the north return.
