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The Netherlands faced two storms over the weekend and is now dealing with the aftermath. Austen arrived on Friday, while Boelo came in from the North Sea on Sunday and became the first official storm of 2026. Together, the storms left one person dead, another missing, and led to over a thousand damage claims to insurers.
The human toll
The storms had serious consequences. In Amsterdam Nieuw-West, a man died after being hit by a falling tree. Off the coast of Scheveningen, a water-sports athlete went missing on Sunday. The search was paused overnight due to the weather and started again on Monday morning. In northwest Europe, the storm also caused deaths, with two people killed by falling trees in the United Kingdom.
How strong was it
Boelo was the stronger storm. On Vlieland, average wind speeds reached force 9 between 11am and midday on Sunday, which is the level meteorologists use to declare an official storm. Gusts up to 115 kilometres an hour were recorded at IJmuiden. This is the country’s first official storm in about a year.
Austen, on the other hand, did not reach official storm status. Despite strong gusts on Friday, winds in the Netherlands only reached up to force 8, so it was not classified as an official storm here. However, it caused more disruption in northern France and the UK. In the Netherlands, Austen mainly brought rain, with 30 to 50 millimetres falling in the south and centre: about half a month’s worth in one day.
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The damage
The clean-up is significant. By Monday morning, insurers had received over a thousand damage claims, including leaks and trees falling on cars. The number was expected to increase as more people checked their properties.
Along the coast and in the Wadden area, high water and strong winds flooded several harbours. The quays at Oudeschild on Texel were underwater on Sunday evening as seawater spilled over them, and the kades in Harlingen also flooded. Fallen trees caused problems across the country, with heavy branches landing on roads, cars, and vans, leading to local disruptions in places like Katwijk, Delft,‘s-Gravenzande, and Rijswijk. Some roads were closed as a precaution, including the N207 near Alphen aan den Rijn and the N33 in Groningen. Heavy rain also led to local flooding in The Hague and Voorhout.
Travel disruption
Schiphol cancelled many flights over the weekend when the winds were strongest. The railways were less affected. Boelo caused more disruption than Austen, but it was still limited. Fallen trees blocked the line between Haarlem and Zandvoort and affected services between Haarlem and Amsterdam on Sunday evening.
Calmer ahead
A code-yellow warning for strong winds in the coastal provinces stayed in place until Monday morning, before the weather started to calm down. The heavy rain is helpful for groundwater levels, especially after a very dry summer when rivers reached record lows, even though it caused flooding and damage in the short term. Boelo is the first named storm of the new autumn season. Last year, storm Benjamin hit around the same time in late October. Milder and calmer weather is expected this week, giving the country a chance to clear fallen trees and repair the damage.