Red and amber weather warnings have been issued across the UK as Storm Goretti evolves into a “weather bomb” expected to bring up heavy snowfall in Wales and the Midlands as well as winds of up to 100mph (160km/h) across exposed hills and coastal areas.
The Met Office, Britain’s national meteorological service, described Goretti, the first named storm of 2026, as a “multi-hazard event” with heavy rain, strong winds and snow, set to be more powerful than Storm Ciarán in 2023 and the Great Storm of 1987.
A storm becomes a weather bomb when its central pressure drops by more than 24 millibars in 24 hours, causing violent winds. Goretti is expected to drop by 36 millibars between 6pm on Wednesday and 6pm on Thursday.
UK braced for potentially life-threatening winds, rains and snowfall as the severe storm rolled in from the southwest of England during what already has been one of the country’s worst cold snaps in years.
Forecasters said that the brunt of the storm would hit central England with as much as 30 centimeters (12 inches) of snowfall in just a few hours, which could disrupt schools, travel and commerce, especially in rural areas.
The Met Office issued a rare red weather warning — its highest — for the southwest of England where wind gusts up to 100 mph (160 kph) were expected in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
It warned of “dangerous, stormy” winds and very large waves, damage to buildings and homes, flying debris, widespread travel cancellations and power cuts.
Red weather warnings are issued when the forecaster considers it to be “very likely that there will be a risk to life, with substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and possibly widespread damage to property and infrastructure.”
The Met Office also issued amber warnings for many parts of the UK. These have an “increased likelihood of impacts from severe weather,” meaning there is the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, flight cancellations, power cuts and potential risk to life and property.
The UK Health Security Agency also extended amber cold weather alerts acroos all regions of England until Jan. 12, meaning severe health impacts are expected. Officials expect a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions, with impacts also possible on younger age groups.
Many parts of Wales, northern England and Scotland have been blanketed over the past few days with snow that has led to numerous school closures and travel disruption.
National Highways has issued its own amber warning for snow in the Midlands from 6pm on Thursday to 9am on Friday, warning of “particularly difficult driving conditions” in Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham.
Rail passengers have been advised to check journeys before travelling, with services cancelled across Wales, Cornwall and north-west England.
National Rail has said all train services in parts of south-west England will be cancelled on Thursday evening and warned that there were likely to be delays and cancellations on Eurostar routes from London.
Major airports have said they will continue to function normally with the exception of Jersey and Guernsey, which will close at 6pm.
Storm Expected To Leave UK Tomorrow
Storm Goretti, named by the French weather service France Meteo, was expected to leave Britain’s shores on Friday and then impact other parts of northwest Europe that already have endured snow, ice and freezing temperatures in recent days.
In the Netherlands, the bad weather eased on today, helping Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, which saw hundreds of flights canceled on each of the first three days of the working week. However, it was briefly hit by a power outage in the morning.
On the opposite side of Europe, in the southeastern countries of the Balkans, bad weather was continuing to bring widespread disruption.
Bosnia, Kosovo and Montenegro faced floods after heavy rainfall and snow caused local rivers to overflow their banks, forcing dozens of people to evacuate their homes.
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