Extreme Winds Shut Down One of Europe’s Busiest Airports
Extreme wind temporarily shut down Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Thursday, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
Airport activity was suspended around 8 a.m. local time and resumed a few hours later, but there are still ongoing delays and cancellations, according to an update posted on the airport's website. At least 260 flights, most traveling within Europe, were canceled as a result of the storm, Schiphol posted on Twitter.
Strong winds also caused a few roof plates to detach from the terminal building, limiting areas where passengers were able to enter the airport, Schipol added on Twitter. Train service to the airport was also disrupted by the weather.
Schiphol is a European travel hub, serving more than 63 million passengers en route to 322 destinations each year. Hundreds of flights were also canceled there due to winter weather last month.
The windstorm that grounded planes at Schiphol also took its toll on other parts of Northwest Europe. At least three people in the Netherlands and one person in Belgium were killed by falling trees and debris resulting from the gusts, which reached 90 miles per hour in some areas, according to the Guardian. The U.K. is also experiencing widespread power outages resulting from the storm, the Guardian reports, and German railway operator Deutsche Bahn suspended all trips in the country's North Rhine-Westphalia area.
