Storm warning intensified: Code orange alert issued for three Dutch provinces
The Dutch meteorological service, KNMI, issued a Code Orange weather alert on Thursday afternoon due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in the provinces of Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Limburg. The institute also warned of very strong wind gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour, and hailstones with a diameter of about 2 centimeters.
For several afternoon hours, an area of rain and thunderstorms will move across the country from southwest to northeast, which led to a Code Yellow warning for the other provinces of the Netherlands. In the Zuid-Holland-Zuid security region, a heavy downpour already led to a few flooded cellars and standing water on roofs. So far, it has been limited to mostly minor incidents, a spokesperson for the security region said.
Reports of storm damage and lost cargo on the roadways were also filed in the eastern portion of Noord-Brabant, along with other incidents of storm damage, according to the police. Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch infrastructure agency, called on motorists to drive carefully because of the severe weather.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms will also pass over the country during Friday afternoon. There will again be a risk of severe weather, especially in the southeast.
The Netherlands also set a new unofficial high temperature record on Thursday. At 12:30 p.m., a temperature of 30.5 degrees was measured in Maastricht, Weeronline reported. That is a narrow advance on the old record set in 1953, when it became 30.4 degrees on May 19.
If the temperature in De Bilt rises to more than 27.5 degrees, it will officially be the warmest May 19 ever measured. That is unlikely, because it was around 22.5 degrees in De Bilt in the early afternoon. The city is home to the KNMI, and is considered the meteorological center of the Netherlands.
Temperatures will be slightly lower in the coming days with the advance of heavy rain and thunderstorms on Friday. Saturday afternoon temperature drops to between 17 and 21 degrees. Sunday it will range from 19 to 24 degrees.
