Winds gusting at up to 115 kph battered the west and north of the Netherlands on Tuesday night and the emergency services were called out to deal with numerous reports of damage.

Commuters are being warned to be careful of branches on the roads on Wednesday morning.

The KNMI weather bureau withdrew its code orange storm warning around 04.00 but said more stormy weather is expected on Wednesday night.

Some lanes of the A28 were closed after a tanker carrying pig fat was blown over, news agency ANP said. The fat made the road slippery and has to be cleared up before the roads can reopen.

Train travel was also disrupted for a time in some places. A tree has blocked the track between Gouda and Alpen aan den Rijn and the number of sprinter trains between Amsterdam, Schiphol airport and Utrecht has been reduced because of problems with the electricfication system.

In the Groningen town of Noordlaren, a tree crashed into a moving car but the driver was only slightly hurt, broadcaster Nos said.

In Zandaam, 450 refugees had to be moved to a sports centre because the marquees they currently live in were not thought to be strong enough to resist the storm.