A combination of heavy rain and wind in parts of the country, plus a number of accidents, have made Wednesday’s rush hour the busiest of the year so far, motoring organisation ANWB said.

By 8.30am there were some 116 traffic jams nationwide, covering a total distance of 552 kilometres, the ANWB said.

The KNMI weather bureau had issued a code yellow weather warning for Zuid-Holland and Zeeland because of the weather, where winds of up to 80 kph have been recorded.

The jams are most prevalent in central and southern parts of the country, particularly around Utrecht and on the A15 between Rotterdam and Nijmegen.

Rush hour traffic jams have been building up again since people began returning to work at the end of last month. Nevertheless, Wednesday’s congestion is well below the worst in an average autumn and winter, when jams can total more than 1,000 kilometres.