The water management authorities in the north of the Netherlands have taken a series of measures to deal with the excess rainfall of the past few days.

Pumping stations in the three northernmost provinces of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe are working at full power to transfer the excess water into the North Sea and IJsselmeer lake.

The province of Groningen has begun flooding the Peizemade area, designated for water storage, which has a surface area of about 700 hectares and can hold about three million cubic metres of water.

The Friesland water management authorities have also decided to inundate a number of polders.

(gsh/nc)

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