Storm Goretti live: Amber snow and ‘danger to life’ warning issued as 90mph winds approach UK

Avanti West Coast, which operates intercity train services between London Euston, the West Midlands, northwest England, North Wales and southern Scotland, is urging passengers booked to travel on Thursday to travel on Wednesday to avoid Storm Goretti.

The rail firm says: “The Met Office has issued weather warnings for Storm Goretti, with heavy snowfall affecting parts of England and Wales on Thursday 8 January and Friday 9 January. “There is a risk of disruption to the rail network as a result of these weather conditions.

“If you have an Avanti West Coast ticket dated Thursday, January 8, you can use it to travel the same route any time today (Wednesday, January 7) at no extra cost.”

The Met Office issued two amber and seven yellow weather warnings across the country on Thursday.

A yellow ice warning will be in place in Northern Ireland from midnight on Wednesday until 10am on Thursday, with temperatures expected to drop rapidly and create a risk of ice overnight.

Snow and ice are expected to cause further disruption in Scotland overnight from Wednesday to Thursday morning, with the Met Office extending the yellow weather warning until 12pm.

A yellow wind warning is in place across the south-west of England and Wales as a deep area of ​​low pressure will move across the south of the UK on Thursday and Friday, bringing a mix of rain, snow and strong winds. The warning lasts from 15:00 until midnight.

Two yellow weather warnings for snow will be issued between 5pm and 8pm on Thursday in Wales, the south-east and west of England and the Midlands. Storm Goretti is likely to bring heavy snowfall to higher ground in South Wales.

5 to 10 cm of snow could accumulate in some areas, with the potential for up to 20 cm in some places, especially on higher ground. Strong winds may cause some snow drift.

A yellow heavy snow warning will cover parts of Wales, the Midlands and South Yorkshire from 8pm later in the evening.

Snowfall brought by Storm Goretti will mean trains and flights may be delayed or cancelled, rural residents may experience power outages and there may be power outages or interruptions to mobile signals, forecasters said. The warning extends from Sheffield in the north to Leicester, much of the West Midlands and Wales.

An amber wind weather warning is in place over Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly between 5pm and 11pm on Thursday as the forecaster warned there could be a “danger to life” as large waves and debris are thrown onto beachside roads and properties.

Storm Goretti may bring exceptionally strong north-westerly winds to the Isles of Scilly and parts of Cornwall for a short period on Thursday evening; Open areas could potentially have peak winds of 80 to 90 mph.

Two yellow weather warnings for rain will be in place in south Wales from midday and in east England from 6pm.

The latest drop in temperatures has triggered the first cold snap of the winter in England and Wales.

Around 673,000 eligible people will receive the Government payment in parts of the country that meet the threshold in the week ending 2 January.

Each payment is worth £25, meaning the total cost will be £16.8 million.

The scheme is run by the Department for Work and Pensions and targets people on benefits considered most vulnerable to the cold, including older residents receiving pension credit and universal credit claimants who meet certain conditions.

Payments are triggered based on the average temperature measured by the Met Office at 71 weather stations in England and Wales.

Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder reports:

Nearly 700 more flights were canceled at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on Wednesday; Here, snow, ice and strong winds have disrupted the schedules of Dutch airline KLM for the last six days. More than 100 connections to the UK were cut on Wednesday.

“While Schiphol can certainly operate in winter weather, it’s clear that the airport’s de-icing infrastructure is not designed to withstand multiple consecutive days of snowfall,” says Daniel Gustafsson of flight tracking site Flightradar24.

He warns that there is a “critical shortage” of de-icing fluid that “threatens to bring operations to a complete halt.”

Mr Gustafsson writes: “Even a thin layer of ice on the wing can significantly affect lift, so all critical surfaces of an aircraft must be completely clear of snow and ice before take-off. KLM operates a fleet of 25 de-icing trucks at Schiphol and is responsible for de-icing not only its own fleet but most aircraft at the airport. KLM’s de-icing teams have been using around 85,000 liters of fluid per day since Friday. This is an extraordinary situation, depending on the supply of materials.” “It causes them to run out faster than they can be replenished.”

There is also a strictly limited amount of time between the aircraft being sprayed and taking off. “This window is called the waiting period,” he writes. “If a plane cannot take off within this critical time window, it must return for retreatment.”

He adds that the potential “network domino effect” of a disturbance in Amsterdam has led some airlines to cancel flights rather than risk a plane getting stranded at Schiphol.

A village in Aberdeenshire saw 30cm (just under 1ft) of snow in “one of the worst winters in 25 years”, according to locals.

Doug Griffin, 58, has lived in Insch, Aberdeenshire, for 25 years and said the weather conditions that caused communications to be cut off to the village were “extraordinary” and “extraordinary”.

While residents are accustomed to snowfall, Wednesday’s snowdrifts are now 30 centimeters (just under 12 inches) deep and were higher before the ice melted on Tuesday, he said.

Mr Griffin, a father of two who works from home for the North Sea Transit Authority, said on Tuesday the drifts were about 50cm deep.

He said he was using a snowplow to clear the entrance to the local Co-Op on Tuesday evening, where he photographed piles of snow almost reaching the roof.

Mr Griffin said: “It’s been a long time since we’ve had anything like this, it’s very different here. We moved to the north-east 25 years ago, the first winter was pretty bad, 2010 was pretty bad but this might be the worst.”

“I was going to the Co-op to get some stuff and I was out of breath. They plowed the road, I think they cleared part of the parking lot.”

“I think there’s about 30cm of snow everywhere right now.

“It’s a bit rainier today and I think some of the snow in Aberdeen is gone.

“The depth in front of my door is around 30 cm. It has snowed and we have not been able to leave the village for a few days.”

While Arctic weather has plunged much of the country into sub-zero temperatures since the start of the year, temperatures in Norfolk have plummeted to -12.5; many northern regions were covered in heavy snow.

The hazardous conditions, which have caused major disruptions to transport services, have triggered yellow cold health alerts and a warning from health secretary Wes Streeting that hospitals are coming under intense pressure.

Hundreds of schools in northern Scotland remained closed for a third day as the country continued to be affected by winter conditions and new weather warnings were issued.

Heavy snowfall has delayed the return to school after the winter break for thousands of students in northern Scotland, who were due to return on Monday.

All schools and council-run nurseries in Aberdeenshire will remain closed for a third day on Wednesday, as well as dozens of schools in Moray and Aberdeen and several schools in Orkney and Shetland.

Students at Highlands were due to return from holiday on Wednesday, but with more than 120 schools closed due to weather conditions, many now have an extra day off.

9 of the 18 people injured when a school bus and a bus collided due to icy conditions were children.

Police confirmed two collisions occurred due to poor weather conditions at a roundabout in Reading on Wednesday; one of them contained two cars, the other a school coach and a Reading bus. The ambulance service said the incidents occurred in the early hours shortly after 8am near Sutton Seeds Roundabout.

Nine children on the school coach suffered minor injuries, along with the coach driver, and eight adults on the Reading bus also suffered minor injuries. While 2 people were taken to hospital, the remaining 16 people were discharged at the scene.

No one was injured in the accident involving two cars.

Thames Valley Police said “road conditions were very icy at the scene” and the cause of the incidents was confirmed to be “weather-related black ice”.