Traffic piles up near record levels with more nasty weather on the way

Rain and accidents caused almost 1,100 kilometers of traffic jams on Dutch roads on Tuesday morning, with the ANWB calling it the busiest morning rush hour so far this year. Rijkswaterstaat expects evening rush hour to also be a nightmare, with more nasty weather on the way.

“Everywhere the daily traffic jams are longer than usual,” a spokesperson for the travelers’ association ANWB told NU.nl at around 8:00 a.m. “Tuesday is already the busiest morning of the week because many people then work in the office. Combined with rain and a few accidents at important flow points, that led to these numbers.” By 9:20 a.m., traffic jams had decreased to 531 kilometers.

The biggest problems occurred around Utrecht and on major highways in Zuid-Holland and Noord-Brabant. Traffic had already piled up on the A4 from The Hague to Amsterdam by 6:00 a.m., for example. There were also accidents on the A2 towards Utrecht near Den Dolder and the A4 towards Amsterdam near Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk. A truck was on fire on the A2 toward Maastricht near Urmond.

The public works department Rijkswatestaat expected Tuesday morning’s rush hour to be “difficult.” Its prediction for evening rush hour is “very difficult.”

“Tuesday evening is one of the busiest times of the week where we expect up to 500 kilometers of traffic jams [on the highways]. Due to expected showers with snow, we now expect more traffic than usual. Therefore, check carefully before departure whether there is already a delay on your route,” Rijkswaterstaat warned.

The meteorological institute KNMI expects scattered showers, potentially with wet snow, throughout the country on Tuesday. There may also be some thunderstorms in the coastal provinces. Most places will be cloudy, but the sun may show its face in the north during the afternoon. Maximums will climb to around 4 degrees.

Overnight, temperatures will drop to around -2 degrees, causing wet roads to freeze. The KNMI, therefore, issued a code yellow icy roads warning for the entire country except for Zeeland from 10:00 p.m. tonight until at least 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

The KNMI expects showers with a chance of snow for Wednesday and Thursday too. After that, rain is forecast until at least Monday. There may be some sunshine on Wednesday and Saturday, and maximums will climb into the tens from Friday.