Red alert: Black ice hits northern Netherlands causing road and hospital closures
The northern regions of the Netherlands are experiencing extremely dangerous conditions due to black ice, with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) issuing a red weather warning in Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe. An NL alert has been issued to residents, urging them to stay indoors and avoid using the roads as much as possible. Several accidents have already occurred. Trains and buses in the provinces are not operating until at least 11:00, and two hospitals have canceled all appointments.
Icy roads are also affecting some other provinces in the northern part of the country. The KNMI issued an orange alert for Flevoland, Utrecht, and the Wadden Islands, and a yellow alert for North Holland.
The red weather warning will remain in effect in the northern provinces until at least 10:00 AM, after which it will change to yellow. The institute expects to downgrade the orange warning to yellow by 8:00 AM, and that slippery conditions will dissipate in the afternoon. The ANWB road users association reported a "large number of accidents" in the north. The extremely slippery conditions are also making it difficult for emergency services to reach accident sites, according to Bianca Damink from the association speaking to NOS.
After several accidents, the A28 road leading to Groningen has been completely closed between Vries and Eelde due to black ice. The A6 road in Friesland has also seen multiple accidents, with one snowplow veering off the road. On the roads that are still passable, cars are moving very slowly. Miranda Mulder from the infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat said, "Black ice is the extreme of slippery road conditions." She added that these conditions make things difficult for road users in North Holland, advising against driving there.
Pro rails reported that trains will not operate in the three northern provinces until at least 11:00 AM. Additionally, the Qbuzz passenger transport service will not operate in Den Helder, Friesland, and Groningen until at least 10:30 AM. Nij Smellinghe Hospital in Drachten, Friesland, and Martini Hospital in Groningen have canceled all appointments and procedures until at least 12:00 PM. Martini Hospital has requested that people do not go to the clinic, according to the ANP agency.
The North Holland court locations in Groningen, Assen, and Leeuwarden will also be closed until at least 10:00 AM, as only emergency sessions will be held on-site. The court stated: "We will inform you as soon as possible about the consequences of your hearing. Where possible, sessions will be converted to online hearings."
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute expects freezing rain and icy conditions in the north to continue until late morning. Meanwhile, the rest of the country will be dry with sunny intervals. By the afternoon, the weather in the north will also be dry, but clouds will remain. Maximum temperatures will range from freezing in the northeast to around 10 degrees in the southwest. No rain is expected at night, so the roads should be safer on Thursday morning.