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EPA
The fierce wind blew this lorry trailer over in the Netherlands
Dutch authorities have suspended all flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol airport as a severe storm causes transport chaos in the Netherlands.
Most rail traffic has also stopped as winds gust at up to 140km/h (90mph).
Schiphol, one of Europe’s busiest airports, says flights will gradually resume and passengers can still check in. But two departure halls are closed.
The storm is now causing damage and disruption in Germany. Rail traffic has stopped in the densely populated Ruhr.
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EPA
Queues are forming at Schiphol as air travellers face a long wait
Dutch Twitter users have posted photos of trucks and trees blown over by the gales. Many trees have come down on railway lines.
Police have 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.”
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AFP
These cyclists in Rotterdam gave up trying to pedal through the storm
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) and parts of neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state.
NRW is Germany’s most populous state. Trains still running in other parts of Germany have reduced 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.
‘Code red’ storm causes Dutch and German transport chaos