Air traffic, train services halted as storm rages across the Netherlands

THE HAGUE, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- As strong gusts up to wind force 10 rage over The Netherlands on Thursday, Amsterdam Schiphol airport has suspended all air traffic and the country's railway services NS decided to shut down all train traffic.

The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute has issued a code red weather alert for six out of the 12 provinces, as wind of up to 140 km per hour is causing problems.

At Schiphol, all incoming flights have to divert to other airports. A total of 260 flights had been cancelled, mainly flights to and from European destinations, leading to schedule disruptions for the rest of the day.

The airport announced that it expected flight traffic to gradually restart around noon.

The NS announced that the winter storm has damaged many overhead cables and a lot of trash has ended up on the tracks. Many regional transport operators have also halted their service out of safety reasons.

Dutch traffic information service VID reported that 25 trucks had toppled on Thursday morning. Motorists are advised not to hit the road in the provinces where the code red alert is in force. Enditem