Dutch weather warnings switch from provinces to flexible areas
From 2 November the KNMI website and app mark the areas at risk instead of whole provinces, so residents can see more precisely where a warning applies.
The KNMI, the Dutch weather institute, has stopped colour-coding whole provinces on its warning maps. Since Monday 2 November its website and app show flexible areas instead.
Each weather phenomenon now has its own map with the matching warnings. Before, everything appeared on a single map. The KNMI warns of slippery roads, heat, cold, fog, thunderstorms, snow, waterspouts, wind gusts and heavy rain.
The aim is to warn people in a more targeted way, a KNMI spokesperson said. Residents may also receive fewer warnings, especially in large provinces. Until now the institute was legally required to warn per province, even when it knew a thunderstorm would not hit a whole province. "Hopefully we'll have to issue fewer unnecessary warnings to the public," the spokesperson said.
The KNMI received legal permission in May to warn the public this way. The new maps start only on Monday because the technical systems first had to be adapted, the spokesperson said.
Separately, since August the KNMI has warned app users about severe thunderstorms expected at their location within 15 minutes.
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KNMI (Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut)
The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute is the Dutch national weather service. It produces weather forecasts and climate data for the Netherlands and issues warnings for severe weather such as storms, rain, snow, ice and heat, shown on its website and app with colour-coded levels. It is the official source Dutch people check for weather alerts, so its warnings are used by the police, municipalities and the public.