The combination of the Polar Low, and the Arctic Front the evening before, caused many traffic problems. Not only did the northern parts of The Netherlands experience a lot of problems caused by snow and wind, so did other parts. The result was many traffic jams, delays at airports and accidents (and of course the usual snow fun!).

"One of the worst morning rush hours

29-1-04|NOS-News

The traffic stagnated on many roads this early morning. The cause of this chaos was the snowfall. There were reported 17 accidents on the motorways before 8.30, all without serious injuries. Except one, it was the worst morning rush ever with in total 68 tailbacks, which had a total length of 571 kilometres.

According to the KLP everybody adjusted quite well considering the bad circumstances. On the A24 close to the Schipholtunnel there was a traffic jam of 24 kilometres. Beside the snowfall, heavy wind gusts also caused problems in the coastal areas and the Wadden Islands. Number one in the traffic jam top 10 remains the 8^th of February 1999. Snow and slipperiness caused traffic jam of in total 975 kilometres. Second was the 8^th of February 1999 with 567 kilometres, but in less than 15 minutes the traffic jam of today conquered the second place.

Schiphol

The wind also harmed the air traffic. Flights at Schiphol generally had 30 minutes delay. The airport had around seven o’clock in the morning two runways in use, one each for incoming and leaving airplanes. Normally Schiphol has two runways for incoming airplanes. During the night the weather was better than expected and caused therefore less trouble. The amount of accidents was the same as in a normal night. Yesterday the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) warned with a so-called ‘weather alert’ for huge problems during the night due to the snowfall. Especially the evening rush hour would endure a lot, but the showers arrived later than expected. In the meantime the KNMI has withdrawn the ‘weather alert’, because the circumstances have improved that well, according to a spokesman of the KNMI."

"Snow in the North: 130 accidents

30-1-04|Newspaper of the North

ASSEN/GRONINGEN - The heavy snowfall has led to over 90 accidents in the Province of Groningen and forty in the Province of Drenthe. The majority took place on Thursday morning. Four people were taken to the hospital in Groningen. Thursday evening a cyclist in Drenthe sustained a bone fracture.
The traffic in the north of Groningen suffered the most. Heavy wind gusts blew on Thursday morning a school bus off the road between Groningen and Delfzijl. The bus slipped into a ditch. None of the children was injured and they could leave the bus through a broken window. The vehicle was towed away.
Another five accidents happened at the same road. Lorries and cars slipped off the road after new heavy snowfall set in during noon. The traffic was diverted for some time.
Between Groningen and Ten Boer drove a delivery van into the Damsterdiep. At the A7 aroused a traffic jam during the morning rush hour. The police counted on this road sic accidents.
Near De Wijk got a car off the road A28 and landed in a ditch on Thursday evening. The driver was unharmed. Breakdown lorries were very busy helping people who got off the road. Poort from Hoogkerk turned out twenty times, his colleague Dikkema from Garmerwolde also. 'We are always busy with snowfall, but this time it was exceptional. Especially the slipped lorries gave us a lot of work.' Transport company Arriva experienced little trouble of the snowfall. Busses were held up during the morning rush hour, but they could all drive their normal way."

"Wounded and stoppages due to snow

29-1-04|Leeuwarder Courant

LEEUWARDEN - The snowfall led this morning to long tailbacks during the morning rush hour. Especially drivers on the Waldwei were held up as a result of accidents and slipperiness. This morning there was only locally slipperiness on the roads. This led to long tailbacks. Traffic was hindered until after 9 o’clock due to the bad weather conditions. On the A7 near exit Bolsward slipped a lorry into the verge. Two other trucks got stuck at the same place. Traffic to Bolsward was blocked for a time as a result."

"Winter merriment for Emmer Elephants

30-1-04|Newspaper of the North

EMMEN - Not only the children were happy with the snow on Thursday. The elephants in the ‘Noorder Dierenpark’ enjoyed them selves also with the white powder, in spite of a slight fall."