Over 175 Schiphol flights affected as dense fog blankets large parts of Netherlands

Thick fog is blanketing large parts of the Netherlands on Tuesday morning, and that is impacting flights at Schiphol Airport. So far, 178 flights have been canceled or delayed to a greater or lesser extent. The fog is also causing problems on the roads, with Rijkswaterstaat reporting multiple accidents.

The KNMI issued a code yellow warning for visibility below 200 meters due to the fog. “Drive slowly, maintain a larger distance to other road users,” the KNMI said. Also remember to turn on your vehicle’s fog lights. The fog should dissipate by noon.

Airlines cancelled 17 flights set to depart from the Amsterdam airport, and 12 more that were due to arrive on Tuesday. Another 45 scheduled departures were already facing delays by 8 a.m., according to the airport’s website, with 102 more arriving anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours later than planned.

Arriving flights were being regulated due to weather, and low visibility procedures were in place at Schiphol, according to Eurocontrol. “High delays” were expected, the European air traffic organization said in its 7 a.m. bulletin.

Eurocontrol warned of “extensive” fog and freezing fog from the southern United Kingdom through northwestern Europe, specifically “from Benelux to Poland, and then north to Denmark and Norway.” Heathrow Airport, London City Airport, and the Paris Orly Airport were also dealing with delays due to low visibility on Tuesday morning.

“This will be slow to clear in places, but particularly further north.” Additional issues caused by Storm Bruna along the Atlantic Ocean coast could complicate departures and arrivals in western and central Europe, with low clouds and rain expected in the southwestern U.K., France, southern Germany, and the Alps.

The poor visibility is also affecting road traffic. “The morning rush hour got off to an early start with multiple accidents causing delays of more than 30 minutes,” the infrastructure agency Rijkswaterstaat said on X at around 7:30 a.m. It reported accidents on the A9 toward Amstelveen, near the bridge over Zijkanaal, on the A28 Hoevelaken interchange connecting to the A1, and on the A60 Valburg interchange toward Oss, among other places.

The ANWB warned of a busy morning rush hour. At 8:25 a.m., the road users’ organization recorded 181 traffic jams covering 948 kilometers of Dutch roads.