Heavy snowfall resulted in travel chaos in the Netherlands on Thursday. There were train cancellations throughout the day.

The whole rail network around Utrecht ground to a halt around 4 pm. It is uncertain when services in the area will be restored. On the roads, the evening rush hour was not as bad as the morning one.

At its highpoint, road traffic on Thursday morning broke this year's record for traffic jams, with tailbacks measuring 670 kilometres. The number of accidents was, however, not as bad as had been feared.

The National Weather Centre (KNMI) says between 20 and 25 centimetres of snow fell in some areas in the north of the country. Such heavy snowfall has not been seen in the Netherlands for four years.

The northern provinces were hit hardest by the cold weather. No bus services have been operating in Friesland, Groningen or Drenthe since the afternoon. Some schools in the north closed, cancelling lessons and exams. In the south, all bus services in the city of Tilburg have been cancelled.

The snow ruined things for ice skating clubs which were hoping to stage the first races today on naturally formed ice outdoors. The first outdoor races are now likely to be held on Friday.

photos: Frieschepalen (ANP), Drachten (Flickr/Dutchoscarphotography), Arnhem (Flickr/Harald_)