Get ready for another round of winter chaos with Storm Goretti, set to bring heavy rainfall, icy conditions, and slippery roads that’d make even the most confident Dutch cyclist say, “Nee, I’m taking the bus today.”
You’ll want to take things slow on the roads this morning, as Weeronline reports treacherously icy roads thanks to freezing temperatures and previously fallen snow.
Temperatures will continue to hover around freezing until the afternoon, by which time they’ll rise to around 1 to 3 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures could feel -20 degrees colder
If you thought the current icy temperatures were bad enough, things are about to get much colder.
And just how cold is ‘much colder’? Well, speaking to RTL Nieuws, Buienradar meteorologist Jordi Huirne reports that the wind chill could drop to a staggering -20 degrees in the north.
However, the rest of the country isn’t spared either, as the phenomenon of blowing snow (i.e. snow picked up and carried by strong winds) is spread across the Netherlands.
“That combination makes it feel much, much colder, perhaps as cold as -15 degrees Celsius,” Huirne warns.
This cold will result in snowfall in the north, with the south and centre of the country having an equal chance of snow and rain.
While the wind chill is forecast to lessen by Sunday afternoon, we’re not out of the woods yet. You’ll still need to wrap up, as Huirne says: “temperatures will remain low everywhere, likely below freezing.”
Roads will get dangerously slippery
Storm Goretti is forecast to move along the southern coast of England, making landfall in the Netherlands this evening (January 8).
With its arrival, we’ll likely experience heavy rainfall across the country. As Weeronline meteorologist Matthijs van der Linden tells NU.nl, this rain “will make many residential areas slippery.”
“The snow that has been driven in forms a hard layer, and rain on top of that makes it treacherous,” van der Linden explains. “Braking or swerving can easily cause you to overshoot.”
To make matters worse, more and more municipalities are running out of road salt. Helaas, AD reports that a decision has been made to “spread salt on fewer roads”, requiring motorists to be extra careful while driving.
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