Severe weather over, no more weather warnings in force, code green everywhere | Domestic

A few thunderstorms occurred early in the night from Thursday to Friday. The KNMI warned that this could be accompanied by hail and a lot of rain, which could cause flooding. This mainly concerned the center and west of the country.

On Thursday evening, thunderstorms caused nuisance in various places, including in the South Limburg region of Heuvelland. And all this while it was also the first official summer day of the year.

In De Bilt the temperature rose to no less than 25.1 degrees at 2 p.m., but the weather changed during the afternoon. Earlier in the day, the KNMI warned of heavy thunderstorms that could cause nuisance, especially in the center and south of the country, in the afternoon and evening. This is particularly the case in Gelderland, Brabant and Limburg. In the latter province, a lot of rain fell in several places. Streets in Venlo, among others, were completely flooded.

Just north of Venlo, more than 70 millimeters of rain fell locally. That is almost double what normally falls in the entire month of May. The fire brigade called on people in the Venlo area not to call if there was flooding in the basement or home, because firefighters were too busy with other reports. “Only call in dangerous situations that cannot wait,” the Limburg-Noord fire brigade said on messaging service X.

The showers moved ‘excruciatingly’ slowly westwards across the Netherlands, according to Weeronline. Although the rain remains heavy according to the weather site, ‘practices like in Venlo’ are not expected so quickly in the west of the country. However, local flooding is ‘certainly possible’, it sounds.

According to the weather institute, wind gusts can reach speeds of up to 65 kilometers per hour, hailstones can have a diameter of 2 centimeters and locally between 20 and 40 millimeters of rain can fall within an hour. “Traffic and outdoor activities may be inconvenienced and there may also be local flooding,” says Weeronline.

In Berg en Terblijt in South Limburg, a mudslide caused damage to houses. According to the safety region, “a very large amount of water” flowed away from a water buffer due to the storm on Thursday evening, causing Lindenstraat to flood.

A spokesperson for the safety region tells L1 News that work was being carried out in the street and it is now considerably damaged by the water. The water has also caused damage to a number of homes. The extent of the damage is not known. The spokesperson does say that there is no immediate danger to the environment.

According to the spokesman, this is the worst incident in the region as a result of the severe weather.

The bad weather also caused a lot of inconvenience in the regions of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Gelderland. Reports of large hailstones came in from the Ede area, among others. In Huizen, a house on Koedijk was struck by lightning earlier in the evening, the fire brigade said. Regional media showed that several streets were flooded.

Rijkswaterstaat reports that the A2 towards Eindhoven is closed between the Kruisdonk junction and Meerssen because there is water on the road. Traffic is diverted via the A79 and A76. The trains between Weert and Roermond will also not run due to lightning strikes, the NS reports. This is expected to last until 11:30 PM. The railway company announces that the train restrictions between Sittard and Maastricht that were caused by flooding earlier in the evening are over.

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Before the thunderstorms, which entered the country from the southeast in the afternoon, the weather was still lovely outside. “The sun is shining brightly and the temperature is rising sharply again to values ​​between 20 and 25 degrees,” Weeronline said earlier. In De Bilt the temperature rose to 25.1 degrees at 2 p.m., making it the first official summer day of 2024, more than two weeks earlier than usual. In other places it even became slightly warmer. In Eindhoven the mercury rose to 26 degrees. The earliest official summer day ever measured in De Bilt was April 14. On April 14, 2007, it was 27.6 degrees in De Bilt, as Weerplaza knows.

In the western provinces, temperatures dropped during the afternoon as the wind shifted from east to west. In the second half of the afternoon, some cumulus clouds formed in the east and southeast of the country, which developed into heavy rain and thunderstorms that then passed over the country. “Most of the spicy ones seem to be destined for Brabant and Limburg, but the center and later in the west of the country must also take into account heavy (thunder) showers with local hail, heavy gusts of wind and a lot of rain,” the weather bureau said. Later in the evening the showers will decrease and become less intense.

According to the weather service, it will remain dry all evening in the north and northeast of the country and it will be sunny for a long time. “By mid-evening it is still over 20 degrees in many places.”

In the night leading up to Friday, an area of ​​showery rain will result in a fairly wet night in the center and south of the country. In the north it remains mainly dry with some broad clear spells in the far north. It eventually cools down to 10 to 13 degrees.

On Friday during the day the mercury will only reach 12 to 15 degrees, while 13 to 18 degrees is usual for early May. “A large part of the day is cloudy and in many places it rains for some time. Only in the northeast does it remain virtually dry. During the afternoon the rain will leave our country via the west and there will be broad clear skies from the southeast. In many places you can enjoy the sun before sunset. The southwest wind is moderate and quite strong on the coast with 3-5 Beaufort,” Weeronline predicts.

In the night to Saturday it will be dry with broad clear spells. With little wind it will eventually cool down to 4 to 8 degrees. ‘On the first day of the weekend the weather is great outside. The day starts dry everywhere with plenty of room for the sun. Later there will be more clouds and a local shower cannot be ruled out. With maximum temperatures between 15 and 18 degrees, it is slightly warmer than on Friday. The wind is weak to moderate and comes from the south to southeast.’