The morning rush hour traffic in the Netherlands is severely hampered on Thursday morning by the onset of winter, which has brought snowfall in large parts of the country.

Police in northern Friesland province are advising people against taking to the road. The snow cover on the regional A7 motorway is up to 1.5 metres thick. One woman took four hours to drive just 10 kms and ended up stuck in a snow mountain.

Shovels of the Transport Ministry are clearing the roads, but at least one of those stranded in the snow. Scores of accidents happened, many of them involving lorries keeling over or sliding off the road. Police vehicles are unable to reach many places. No casualties have been reported.

Traffic jams built up rapidly, totalling over 600 kms early at eight o'clock in the morning. The average on a normal workday is 200 kms of static traffic.

Trains services are coping relatively well, but passengers are told to expect delays of up to an hour. All bus services in Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe provinces have been cancelled because of hazardous road conditions.

The wintry weather is moving towards the southeast but the snow front is expected to return later in the day, moving west.

Slow traffic after heavy snowfall in Netherlands (ANP Photo)