A ferry carrying 35 passengers and seven crew was stranded for nine hours on a mudbank between the mainland and the Wadden Sea island of Schiermonnikoog on Wednesday.

The ferry was apparently blown off course by the strong easterly winds on Wednesday morning and became stranded. It managed to refloat during high tide in the late afternoon.
While the ferry was out of action, an islander who receives daily treatment at Groningen University’s medical school for a brain tumour was airlifted to the mainland by helicopter, the Telegraaf reported.
Schiphol
The snow and freezing temperatures are also disrupting air travel from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. A number of flights have been delayed or cancelled. Several British airports, including Gatwick and Edinburgh, are closed.
Work on construction sites throughout the Netherlands has been cancelled because of the weather.
According to the KNMI weather bureau, the wind chill factor has taken the temperature as low as -17 Celsius in exposed places. Some snow is expected overnight and again on Thursday, when the strong winds will weaken, the KNMI says.