Hundreds of thousands skating on natural ice in Holland

For the first time in more than a decade, hundreds of thousands of people took to the ice for a popular Dutch sport, ice-skating.

On canals, ponds and lakes throughout the entire country, many flocked to the frozen waters to skate.

Due to the sunny and calm weather it seemed everyone wanted to skate on the ice, causing traffic and parking problems near the places where skating was possible.

It was possible to take part in approximately 40 official skating tours, but many simply went on the ice to skate by themselves.

In Amsterdam too, several canals were frozen enough to enable skating. The canals in the centre of Amsterdam were, however, not yet frozen. People were also skating in the Vondelpark.

Hospitals everywhere in the Netherlands were very busy with broken wrists, arms and other body parts. Hospitals in Amsterdam had arranged for extra staff.

Tomorrow it is expected to be the busiest day for skating. After tomorrow, the frost will disappear quickly.