Deadly storm causes Dutch and German transport chaos
Three people have been killed by falling trees or debris in the Netherlands as a fierce storm tears ..
Three people have been killed by falling trees or debris in the Netherlands as a fierce storm tears across northern Europe.
Storm-related accidents killed three people in Olst, Vuren and Enschede.
Gusts of up to 140km per hour (90mph) caused transport chaos.
Flights are slowly resuming after being suspended at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport – one of the busiest in Europe – and trains have been halted in three big regions of north-west Germany.
Skip Twitter post by @Schiphol
Due to strong winds, a few roof plates have been detached from the terminal building. The entrances of Departures 1 and 2 are therefore closed. Passengers can enter Departures 3. Check-in is possible in all departure halls.
— Schiphol (@Schiphol) January 18, 2018
End of Twitter post by @Schiphol
Dutch Twitter users have posted photos of trucks and trees blown over by the gales. Many trees have come down on railway lines.
Police temporarily closed the centre of Almere, a city with about 200,000 residents lying just east of Amsterdam.
They tweeted an alert warning people to stay at home because of risk from the storm.
Dutch people in the storm's path are using the hashtag #coderood to tweet photos of the storm damage.
A national transport website, VID, reported 17 trucks blown over by the strong winds.
The Dutch Railways (NS) and operator ProRail said overhead power lines had been damaged by the wind, as well as some railway tracks.
An alert on the NS website said: "A hurricane-force storm is raging over our country and causing a lot of damage to the rail network and stations.
"NS and ProRail therefore have to stop the train service until further notice. Only Arriva trains in Groningen and Limburg can continue running."
Disruption in Germany
High winds have also toppled trees and caused structural damage in western regions of Germany, where the storm is called "Friederike".
The national train operator, Deutsche Bahn, has suspended rail traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state and Lower Saxony.
NRW – the home of major Ruhr industries – is Germany's most populous state. Trains still running elsewhere in Germany have cut their speed because of the strong winds.
Dozens of flights are also being cancelled in Germany – at Cologne/Bonn airport every fourth flight has been scrapped.
