AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - All flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport were cancelled on Friday following a major power outage in the Dutch capital and surrounding region, an airport spokesman said.

Though power had been restored at the airport, the spokesman said, incoming flights were still being diverted to other regional airports, and there would be delays to all outbound flights from Europe's fourth-largest airport, she said.

Earlier, the airport had a temporary outage and was operating on backup power, the spokesman said. "We are experiencing a lot of problems due to the outage," she said.

The major power outage hit Amsterdam and its surrounding areas on Friday, as Dutch grid operator TenneT reported an overload on its power lines.

The ANP news agency said the outage covered large parts of the province of North Holland, including the nearby broadcasting centre of Hilversum.