Fresh warnings for snow and ice have been issued across much of the UK as Storm Goretti approaches, bringing further disruption after the country experienced its coldest night of the winter so far.
The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings covering most of the UK from Tuesday evening into Wednesday, along with additional snow warnings for parts of England and Wales on Thursday and Friday. The wintry conditions are being driven by Storm Goretti, which has been named by French forecasters as the first storm of the year.
Temperatures dropped to -12.5C in Marham, Norfolk, overnight, prompting widespread disruption. Hundreds of schools were forced to close on Tuesday, with around 380 shut in Wales, at least 300 in Scotland, 203 in Northern Ireland and more than 230 in England, according to BBC report.
Rail services were also heavily affected. London North Eastern Railway advised passengers not to travel between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, warning of “major disruption” across its network following heavy snowfall. National Rail said train services in northern Scotland were facing cancellations, alterations and significant delays, with disruption expected to last until the end of Thursday. Snow ploughs have been deployed between Aberdeen and Inverness to clear snowdrifts.
Some ScotRail services began returning to normal on Tuesday evening, although routes between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh remained cancelled. Eurostar warned passengers its services were likely to experience “severe delays” and last-minute cancellations, with journeys to Amsterdam particularly affected due to heavy snow and wider disruption across parts of Europe.
Ice warnings came into effect across large areas of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland on Tuesday evening and will last until Wednesday morning. A snow and ice warning remains in place overnight for northern Scotland. Aberdeenshire Council declared a major incident, saying it was preparing for a “prolonged period of significant impacts”.
Forecasters have warned that more disruptive weather is still to come. Snow fell as far south as central London by Tuesday afternoon, and while more severe amber warnings in Scotland have ended, the cold conditions are expected to persist throughout the week.
The centre of Storm Goretti is forecast to pass through the English Channel late on Thursday. Rain is expected to arrive in south-west England on Thursday morning before spreading across England and Wales and turning to snow in areas covered by yellow warnings from Thursday evening. Up to 20cm of snow is forecast in parts of England and Wales overnight into Friday.
A separate Met Office yellow wind warning has been issued for south-west England on Thursday afternoon, with gusts of 50–60mph and up to 70mph along exposed coasts. The UK Health Security Agency has issued amber cold health alerts for England until Sunday, while cold weather payments have been triggered across 451 postcodes, providing £25 to eligible households if temperatures remain at or below 0C for seven consecutive days.
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