The Netherlands will be battered by storm force winds again on Thursday with gales of up to force 10 in the Wadden Sea area, weather forecasters say.

The spring tide will add to the problems in northern parts of the country because the water levels will be much higher than usual, RTL news reported.

There will also be heavy rain on Thursday evening, when many households celebrate Sinterklaas.

Overnight and on Friday, the rain will ‘almost certainly’ give way to snow showers, weather bureau weeronline.nl said. There is also an increasing chance of frost at night, especially at the weekend.