Some 40,000 people were treated in hospital accident and emergency departments for ice-related injuries during the wintry weather, according to calculations by the Dutch trauma surgeons’ association NVT.

The most common injuries were broken wrists, hips and shoulders, the NVT said, and around 1,000 people required an operation. The figures are based on a survey of 20 hospitals nationwide.

The figures are ‘exceptional’, NVT chairman Mike Hogervorst told the AD. ‘Some hospitals were operating non stop in multiple operating theatres, and that is rare.’

Even though officials had urged people to be careful and not to overload hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic, Hogervorst said the situation was ‘unavoidable’.

‘Everyone has been cooped up for so long and was desperate to get outside,’ he said. ‘And I am impressed how hospital workers were able to deal with it all.’