Schiphol airport Amsterdam
Aerial view of Schiphol airport near Amsterdam April 9, 2014. REUTERS/Yves Herman

All flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport were cancelled on Friday 27 March after a major power outage has hit the Dutch capital and surrounding areas.

An airport spokesperson said all incoming flights to Europe's fourth largest airport are being diverted to other regional airports.

"We are experiencing a lot of problems due to the outage," she said.

Dutch grid operator TenneT reported an overload on its power lines, but could not immediately be reached for comment on how long the outage might last.

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport had a temporary outage before switching to its emergency power supply, but was forced to cancel flights after the power outage, diverting flights to other regional airports, the spokeswoman said.

Passenger trains are also cancelled across the country and traffic lights in the region were also affected.

Hospitals are also operating on backup power, NOS public television reported.