Two killed as strongest summer storm blasts Netherlands, Germany
A record-breaking summer storm hammered the Netherlands and Germany on Wednesday, killing two people and throwing international air and rail travel into chaos.
Storm Poly packed howling winds of up to 146 km/h, toppling trees and forcing the cancellation of 400 flights from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, AFP reported.
Meteorologists said the storm was the strongest on record to hit the Netherlands in the summer months and issued a rare “code red” warning for millions of people in the low-lying nation to stay indoors.
Schiphol Airport said the number of flights would “gradually improve” as winds started to drop but would remain disrupted for the rest of the day. “At the moment, 400 flights have been cancelled,” a Schiphol spokesperson told AFP. Eurostar trains from Amsterdam to London and high-speed rail services to the German cities of Cologne and Hamburg were also called off, while many domestic trains were cancelled, Dutch train operator NS said.
The Dutch meteorological service KNMI said winds of force 11, the second highest on the scale, were measured along with a gust of 146 km/h measured in the northern port of IJmuiden.
It was the “first very severe summer storm ever measured” in the country, Dutch weather service Weerplaza said, adding that the gusts were also the strongest ever recorded in the summer in the Netherlands.