NEWS AND MORE's video: Dutch go skating on frozen ponds in escape from lockdown

Dutch go skating on frozen ponds in escape from lockdown Hopes for a weekend's skating were running high in the Netherlands on Friday (February 12) as days of sub-zero temperatures froze lakes and ponds across the country allowing the Dutch a welcome break from a two-month lockdown. "This is the perfect reason to go out and have a little fun with the museums and everything being closed," community manager Telissa Schreuder told Reuters as she strapped on her skates in Amsterdam's Westerpark. Members of Molenaarsgraaf skating club on the outskirts of Rotterdam had been out with a tape measure on Thursday, drilling a small hole in the ice to measure its thickness and be sure that locals could venture into the centre of the pond safely. In the centre of Amsterdam, queues formed around skate repair shops as locals prepared for a weekend's skating. "Everybody here in our country just loves to skate," 16-year-old Inge said. (Production: Eva Plevier, Clement Rossignol, Johnny Cotton)