Schiphol airport cancelled two-thirds of its flights on Wednesday and trains and bus services have been disrupted as heavy snow and strong winds sweep across the country.

Weather bureau KNMI has issued a code amber warning for almost the entire country, with the exception of Limburg province and the Wadden islands, until at least 9am.

In a fourth day of disruption at Schiphol airport, some 800 flights were cancelled and camp beds were set up in departure halls for passengers who had nowhere to go. Over 1000 spent the night at the airport, Schiphol said on Wednesday.

Some travellers have been stranded at the airport since Saturday. One group of friends told RTL Nieuws they were trying to get to Rome but had spent four nights in the airport and in hotels without their checked-in luggage.

“It’s just bad and at this point we’re ready to charter a bus to Rome to get us out of here,” one of the women said.

Highways agency Rijkswaterstaat has urged people to stay off the roads if possible. As well as the snow, icy surfaces are posing a hazard for drivers, with longer queues and more collisions reported than usual despite the advice to stay at home.

Salt shortage

Some local councils have reported their stocks of salt running low after spreading hundreds of tonnes in the last few days.

Barneveld council said it had ordered extra salt after using 800 tonnes in the last few days, leaving just 150 tonnes, but its regular supplier has also run out.

“On Friday the council will receive extra salt from another supplier so we can spread the roads at the weekend,” the council said in a statement.

Leiderdorp, Heiloo and Bergen councils also have shortages, ANP news agency reported.

Winter timetable

Train operator NS is running a reduced winter timetable for a second day and warned of more delays caused by frozen points and other problems.

Services were suspended between Schiphol and Utrecht until 10.15am. High speed trains between Antwerp and Rotterdam via Breda are also not running until midday at the earliest.

ProRail, which is responsible for maintaining the railways, said frozen points were causing delays around the border town of Roosendaal, as well as Gouda and Weesp.

Ice was cleared from rail lines on Tuesday night in the Amsterdam area, where train services have been repeatedly cancelled in the last two days, ProRail said.

Bus services have been suspended in Utrecht, The Hague and Rotterdam, but trams are still running. Amsterdam’s GVB is operating bus, tram and metro services in the city, but regional buses operated by EBS are not running until at least midday.

The heaviest snow is expected in a band stretching from Zeeland to Groningen, including Amsterdam and Utrecht, with up to 10cm falling on Wednesday morning.

Strong winds could also lead to drifting snow and reduced visibility, weather bureau Weeronline warned. On the Waddden islands winds of up to 80km/h are expected.

The snow will move eastwards during the day, with rain arriving in coastal areas later on Wednesday. Thursday is expected to be mainly dry, but further snow is forecast for Friday. Temperatures will be around freezing but wind chill will make the air temperature feel like minus 8.