
At least four people have been killed by falling trees as violent gales smashed northern Europe and forced Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to close.

The Netherlands bore the brunt of the severe winter storms - the second this month - as bitter winds whistled off the North Sea to hit the low-lying country with full force.

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of the continent's busiest travel hubs, was forced to cancel all flights at one point as winds topped 86 miles an hour. Flag carrier KLM already had scrapped more than 200 flights before the storm while trains were halted across the nation as the winds caused chaos across the country.

Two Dutch men, both 62, have been killed by falling trees while a woman driver in Belgium died when her car was crushed as she travelled through a wood. A 59-year-old man was also killed at a camping site in the German town of Emmerich, near the Dutch border.

Footage has emerged of people tumbling across the street after being caught out by powerful gusts. Other clips show a lorry toppling over on a motorway and a roof being torn off a building.

Severe storms have caused chaos in the Netherlands and Belgium today. Footage has emerged showing powerful gusts sending people tumbling across the street in Holland

An agricultural building lies collapsed during a heavy storm in Meimbressen, central Germany, after the devastating storm

Road block: Winds were so powerful that they toppled this lorry on the A27 motorway in the Netherlands. It was filmed from a following vehicle

Three people have been killed by falling trees as violent gales smashed northern Europe forcing Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to close. Pictured: A fallen tree in Amsterdam today

A toppled crane next to a wind turbine in a field in Kirtorf, central Germany, after being blown over by the wind

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of the continent's busiest travel hubs, was forced to cancel all flights at one point as winds gusted up to 86 miles an hour. Passengers are pictured today waiting for information

The Netherlands bore the brunt of the severe winter storms - the second this month - as bitter winds barrelled off the North Sea to hit the low-lying country with full force. This was the scene in Rotterdam as cyclists tried to make their way along the road

Police spokeswoman Jose Albers told Dutch national broadcaster NOS that authorities also were investigating whether the powerful gusts were to blame for the death of a 66-year-old man who fell through a plexiglass roof in the central town of Vuren.

Social media in the Netherlands was flooded with images of people being blown from their bicycles, cargo containers falling off a ship and damage to buildings, including the roof peeling off an apartment block in the port city of Rotterdam.

Water authorities in the low-lying nation closed an inflatable storm barrier east of Amsterdam to prevent flooding as the storm pushed up water levels.

Traffic on Dutch roads was plunged into chaos, with the wind blowing over tractor trailers, toppling trees and hampering efforts to clean up the mess. In Amsterdam, authorities temporarily halted all trams and closed the city's zoo.

Damage: A truck's roof was blown off in Wuppertal, Germany amid fierce winds across the continent this afternoon

Road block: Devastating winds caused traffic chaos on the A71 motorway near Erfurt, central Germany this afternoon as two lorries toppled over

Firefighters and employees of Duesseldorf's public transport provider 'Rheinbahn' remove fallen trees from overhead wires due to strong winds in Germany

The severe winter storm left a trail of destruction as it passed over The Netherlands today

Beachgoers battled through strong winds in Hoek van Holland during the second major storm of the year today

A woman walks through fierce winds during the storm, named Friederike, in Dresden on Thursday afternoon

German Bundeswehr soldiers cling to their berets and coats as they walk through strong winds in Dresden

The soldiers struggled to keep their uniforms intact as gale-force winds whipped through Dresden on Thursday

Schiphol airport also had to close the entrances to two of its three departure halls when some roof tiles were whipped off the terminal building

Before halting all trains, the Dutch rail service reported numerous incidents including a collision between a train and a trampoline. In Amsterdam, a man had a narrow escape when a tree was blown over onto his scooter. He escaped unhurt.

NS, announced that 'due to the storm all trains are halted until further notice' apart from a small local service in northern Groningen and southern Limburg.

Thalys, the high-speed train service, suspended services to the Netherlands and Germany until at least 1pm.

One Thalys train heading to the Netherlands from Brussels was stopped at Antwerp and all the passengers told to disembark and wait for at least two hours, an AFP reporter on board said.

NS said it was grappling with 'a large number of breakdowns' which meant even after the storm it could take some time for normal service to be restored.

Destruction: This giant tree came crashing down on cars parked in The Hague, Holland as 86mph winds rattled the city today

Emergency crews were called as trees were torn from their roots in the centre of The Hague after it was battered by the storm

The national weather service recorded wind gusts of up to 140 kph (87 mph) in the southern port of Hook of Holland as the storm passed over. This was the scene in The Hague this afternoon

The roof of a complete row of porch houses was blown away by the storm in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

A traffic sign is covered with sand on the beach of Hoek van Holland, near Rotterdam. The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute issued a code red for the storm that was expected to bring wind speeds up to 140 kph

There were bitter winter storms in Poland this afternoon. This was the scene in Szczecin as people braved a snow storm in the town

A trailer was knocked down on a car as a powerful storm with gale-winds of up to force 12 whipped across the The Hague in The Netherlands today

A snowplow cleans a road from snow, near Torfhaus, northern Germany today. Weather forecasts predict a heavy storm and snow over the country

A woman uses an umbrella to protect herself against heavy snowfall in Hamburg, northern Germany today. The winter storm has caused chaos in Northern Europe

The word 'winter' was written in the snow on a parked car in Bruesewitz, near Schwerin, eastern Germany as a blizzard moved in

The high winds were expected to decrease by later in the afternoon, but Dutch officials had closed to all traffic several more-exposed roads and bridges crossing different dykes.

But by late morning the national traffic service the VID had counted 25 large lorries which had been toppled by the gale-force winds, causing huge traffic jams on six of the country's main roads.

Southern Rotterdam, Europe's busiest cargo port, was now 'virtually unreachable from the north due to problems' on three of the main motorways into the city, the VID added.

Several flights were also cancelled in the German airports of western Dusseldorf and southern Munich, while the German rail service Deutsche Bahn said it was reducing the speed of its high-speed ICE trains between northern Wolfsburg and the capital, Berlin.

Elsewhere in Europe, Tyrol state in western Austria said the Westbahn train line linking Vienna, Linz and Salzburg was closed on Thursday morning because of avalanche risk, national railways company OeBB said.

'We don't want to take any risks,' OeBB spokesman Christoph Gasser-Mair said.

In Belgium, the port of Ghent closed down because of the high winds and tram traffic was halted in parts of Brussels.

A truck crashed during fierce winds on the A71 near Erfurt, central Germany, today causing traffic chaos on the area

The roof of a supermarket lies on the street in Menden, western Germany. The storm has killed at least three people in Northern Europe already

Bikes lay strewn across the street in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Drivers were warned to stay off the roads as the country took a powerful hit of a storm which was set to lash large parts of Europe

There were a number of fatalities across Northern Europe this afternoon as trees came crashing down during the storm. This was the scene in The Hague today with a large branch lying on the road

Sand whipped up off the beach in The Hague as a powerful storm whipped off the North Sea and caused havoc across northern Europe today

A woman shields her face from the wind as she holds a man's hand and walks along a road in The Hague as it was being battered by a storm today

A woman pushes a baby stroller on a snow covered street in Hamburg, Germany

While strong winds downed trees, sent pedestrians flying and even toppled a crane elsewhere in Germany, the city of Hamburg was covered in a layer of snow

A woman ploughs the snow in Inneringen, in southern Germany, after the area saw heavy falls on Thursday

By mid-afternoon, the storm had passed over Belgium and the Netherlands and into Germany, where police reported several injuries.

Across western Germany, air and train traffic came partially to a halt, some 100,000 people were left without electricity and schools remained closed.

The square in front of Cologne's famous Cathedral was partially cordoned off Thursday as a precaution amid fears masonry could be blown loose.

Two people were injured when gusty winds toppled over their truck on Highway 555 near Bonn and at least four people were injured by falling trees in Dortmund, Ratingen and Heinsdorf. Another truck was almost blown off a highway bridge near Duisburg.

Firefighters were busy removing trees from roads and buildings across the region.

In Romania, snowstorms and high winds forced the closure of dozens of schools, several main roads and ports, and thousands of people were left without electricity.

Interior Minister Carmen Dan said Thursday that 32,000 people had no power. Authorities also freed a bus carrying 22 people that was stranded in snowdrifts in Romania's eastern Galati region.

Black Sea ports in eastern Romania were also closed Thursday because of the high winds, authorities said.