KNMI issues first regional yellow weather code for fog

The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has issued its first regional yellow weather code, specifically targeting areas affected by dense fog. The warning covers a localized area including southern Utrecht, northern North Brabant, and small parts of Gelderland and South Holland.

This marks a shift from the previous system used before November 1, where weather codes were issued on a provincial basis. Under the old system, warnings often covered entire provinces even when conditions were only severe in small sections, which meteorologists argued led to unnecessary alerts for large parts of the country and hindered preparation for safety regions and event organizers.

The new regional system allows users to zoom in on specific locations via the KNMI website or app to see localized risks. Meteorologist Peter Kuipers Munneke noted that the new approach improves credibility, as previous protocols would have required issuing warnings across four entire provinces for the same localized fog event.