The KNMI weather bureau has issued a code amber weather warning for most of the Netherlands on Friday, saying storm Eunice will be worse than Wednesday night’s storm Dudley.

The wind is expected to reach gale force 9 or 10 in coastal areas – or up to 130 kph – and 8 in the rest of the country, the KNMI said. The storm will hit the Netherlands around 2pm and reach a peak in the late afternoon.

The storm may cause considerable damage and lead to extremely dangerous situations as trees are blown down and loose objects fly around in the wind, the KNMI said.

NS said on Thursday evening that it is cancelling all services nationwide after 2 pm on Friday because of the storm.

The ferry from IJmuiden to Newcastle which was scheduled to depart on Friday afternoon has been cancelled and Schiphol airport is also warning that flights will be disrupted because of the weather.

Several coronavirus vaccination and testing centres which are housed in marquees are being closed, and 200 refugees in Groningen moved from their emergency accommodation to the Zoutkamp army barracks.

Storm Dudley brought down trees and caused problems on the roads and railways in several places. The highest wind speed recorded during the storm was 114 kph at the Lauwersoog weather station on the Groningen coast.

Eunice will be the fourth official storm of the year and the fifth this winter. To qualify as a storm, the average wind speed must be at least gale force 9 for an hour.