Snowfall leads to chaos, traffic jam record in Netherlands

THE HAGUE, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Snowfall in the Netherlands led to a record traffic jam of over 1,500 km in the Netherlands and problems in public transport on Monday.

Especially the eastern side of the southern province of North-Brabant and roads around the major cities The Hague, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam suffered from long traffic jams and several accidents. At the peak, around 5 p.m. local time, there was a total of over 1,500 km of traffic jams, the biggest traffic jam ever, according to motoring organization ANWB.

Around noon, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute KNMI issued a Code Red warning, which means "weather that disrupts society", due to large-scale slipperiness and snowfall for a large part of the country. The code remains in force until midnight.

Air traffic was also affected by the weather. At Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, hundreds of flights were canceled and the airports of Eindhoven and Rotterdam were even closed for several hours.

Train traffic was also seriously disrupted, especially in the middle and the western parts of the country, with no trains riding from and to Amsterdam Central Station and Schiphol. The national railways service, NS, advised travelers to postpone their trips.

In most places in the Netherlands, five to 10 cm of snow fell on Monday, and in some places it was 10 to 15 cm. The snow is forecast to move to the east and will leave the country after midnight, but the chance of slipperiness remains. Enditem