Code red issued for northern Dutch provinces due to black ice
By Simone Jacobs
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has issued a code red weather warning for treacherously slippery conditions on Wednesday, February 4, in the Dutch provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe.
Icy conditions grip north of the Netherlands
On Wednesday, February 4, a code red is in place for Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe until at least 12pm. A code yellow will remain in place for the northern provinces until Thursday morning.
Freezing rain on Tuesday night has caused “treacherously slippery” conditions that increase the risk of accidents due to black ice on roads, cycle paths, pavements and bridges. A code yellow is also in effect for Flevoland and Overijssel.
A code orange was previously in effect from Tuesday into Wednesday, but this was upgraded to a code red in the morning. Residents in the affected provinces also received an NL-Alert on their mobile phones early on Wednesday morning, urging them to stay home.
First code red in the Netherlands since 2023
A code red weather alert is only issued in the event of extreme weather that majorly impacts residents, reports NOS. The last time such a weather warning was issued was in July 2023 when Storm Poly hit the Netherlands.
Train services north of Zwolle have been halted due to the weather conditions and will resume once the code red is lifted. The Rijkswaterstaat (Public Works and Water Management) has said that the roads are so slippery that it is impossible to even use gritting trucks and is asking that residents stay off the roads. Several road accidents occurred on Tuesday night due to the icy conditions, including a gritting truck which veered off the road.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training.Read more