Storm Dudley may have already wreaked havoc across the Netherlands, causing train delays, flight cancellations, and power cuts, but it looks as though the worst is yet to come: with Storm Eunice expected to hit on Friday afternoon, the Dutch Weather Institute (KNMI) has issued a code red weather warning, and the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) has cancelled all trains after 2pm.
Wednesday night saw Storm Dudley cause serious damage across the country. Several towns and cities saw cars and homes damaged by fallen trees. In a town near Arnhem, a police officer was injured after some roof sheeting was blown off a building. He was treated in a local hospital for his injuries.
Power lines were snapped by the heavy winds in Friesland, and some bridges and dikes were closed to traffic. NS reported that a number of its services were either cancelled or delayed as a result of the heavy winds and debris on the rails, and various flights were unable to take off in the stormy conditions.
While there were various accidents and injuries across the Netherlands as a result of the extreme weather, luckily no serious injuries or fatalities have been reported.
While much of the country is still reeling from Storm Dudley, there’s no time left to recover as Storm Eunice is expected to hit at around 2pm on Friday afternoon, bringing extremely heavy winds of up to - and potentially over - 130 kilometres an hour.
A code yellow weather warning comes into effect at 2pm for the whole country. The northern and western provinces have then been issued a code red warning between 3pm and 3am, while in the eastern provinces an orange weather warning will be in effect between 3pm and 8pm.
Weeronline has predicted that Eunice will be the heaviest storm the Netherlands has faced in years, and could potentially be “the strongest storm of this century so far.”
NS is running fewer trains throughout the day on Friday, and announced on Thursday evening that, from 2pm on Friday, all trains in the Netherlands would be cancelled as a result of the storm. Other public transport will also be running on a reduced timetable, while KLM has cancelled over 170 flights out of Schiphol Airport.
Various schools and higher education institutions will close early on Friday in anticipation of Storm Eunice, with universities across the Netherlands announcing in-person teaching would cease at 12pm. The GGD has also said many of its vaccination and testing centres would close their doors early. The Rijkswaterstaat has advised drivers to take care when on the roads, and all professional football matches scheduled to take place on Friday have been cancelled.