Tuesday’s morning rush hour was the most congested of the year so far, with traffic jams reaching almost 1,100 kilometres by 8.30am, motoring organisation ANWB said.

By that time there were 198 stoppages, and Gelderland was particularly badly affected, the ANWB said.

Some of the jams were caused by accidents, including a crash involving a lorry on the A16. The weather also caused problems, and Tuesday is traditionally one of the busiest days of the week.

The ANWB count includes jams on motorways and regional highways, while the infrastructure ministry’s roads department only includes motorways. It put the total length of the jams at 600 kilometres.