Damage from first official autumn storm: Fewer trains to The Hague on Budget Day
The first official autumn storm of the year hit the Netherlands, with wind force 9 measured in IJmuiden for an hour on Monday evening. The strong winds caused some issues on the railway, including a broken overhead line, resulting in fewer trains running to The Hague on Budget Day.
Far fewer trains are running between Gouda Goverwelle and The Hague Central Station all morning due to the faulty overhead line, NS reported. According to ProRail, a piece of plastic blew into the overhead line on Monday afternoon. The plan was to remove it overnight, but strong winds made it impossible to work at the required height.
NS expects the disruption to last until 12:15 p.m. at least. The rail company’s website shows that half of the intercity trains between Utrecht and The Hague are canceled. So expect crowded trains if you’re heading to The Hague to watch the Royal procession for Budget Day.
Meteorologists consider a storm official when the average wind speed at at least one KNMI weather station reaches wind force 9 for a full hour or longer. That happened in IJmuiden on Monday evening, Weeronline reported.
This year’s first autumn storm happened earlier than usual. On average, the first storm of the season hits around mid-October. This is also the first autumn storm in the Netherlands in three years. The previous one was in 2022.
At 102 kilometers per hour, the strongest wind gusts were measured in Houtribdijk between Enkhuizen and Lelystad on Monday.
This storm didn’t get a name; that typically only happens for storms that get a code orange or higher storm warning, and the KNMI only issued a code yellow strong winds warning on Monday. But fire brigades still had their hands full due to the strong winds. In Rotterdam, a tree fell onto the overhead lines of a tram, and shopping containers fell onto parked cars. In Paterswoldsemeer near Groningen, the fire brigade had to rescue a boat from the water that got into trouble due to the strong winds.
