Code Orange: Snowfall in several Dutch provinces; Commuters urged to work from home

Snow will cause dangerous conditions in several Dutch provinces on Friday morning. The KNMI issued a code orange warning for Utrecht, Gelderland, Noord-Brabant, and Limburg. A code yellow icy roads warning also covers the entire country. Work from home if you can, the Rijkswaterstaat urged road users.

The code orange warning covers Noord-Brabant, Utrecht, and Gelderland from 8:00 a.m. Limburg is under code orange from 10:00 a.m. Heavy snowfall could cause significant damage and dangerous situations, the KNMI warned. The provinces could get 5 to 8 centimeters of snow today, with several centimeters falling per hour. The code orange applies until 2:00 p.m. for Noord-Brabant and Utrecht and until 4:00 p.m. for Gelderland and Limburg.

In addition to the code orange snow warning, the entire country except the Wadden Islands is covered by a code yellow icy roads warning. Drive carefully and keep a safe following distance, the KNMI warned. The code yellow warning will apply until at least 6:00 p.m. tonight.

Public works department Rijkswaterstaat and the travelers’ association ANWB also warned road users about the dangerous weather conditions. “Work from home if possible and be extra alert if you have to go on the road,” the Rijkswaterstaat said.

In addition to the dangerous weather, the second day of a nationwide strike in regional public transport will also make travel difficult in the Netherlands today. Regional public transport workers and touring coach drivers are striking for a better collective bargaining agreement. The strike affects regional buses and some regional trains operated by Arriva and Keolis.

The roads were pretty quiet on Friday morning as commuters gave heed to the weather warning and advice to work from home. At 7:27 a.m., the ANWB reported nine traffic jams covering 39 kilometers of Dutch roads.

Friday will be mostly cloudy, with wintry showers in most places. The northern half of the country will be mostly dry from later this afternoon, the KNMI said. Afternoon temperatures will range between 5 degrees in the southwest, around 2 degrees elsewhere in the country, and around freezing in the snowfall. This evening, the southeast will still get some wet snow, but the rest of the country should be dry.

The weekend will see occasional sunshine and be mostly dry. Maximums will climb a degree or two above freezing. The KNMI expects to issue a code yellow warning for icy roads on Sunday.