Full impact overnight - Early disruption ahead of Goretti

Full impact overnight
Storm Goretti causing disruption

Cars driving slowly along a snow-covered road during heavy snowfall, with reduced visibility, snow-laden trees lining both sides, and headlights glowing through the wintry haze.

Heavy show has already blanketed the Scottish Highlands.

Storm Goretti has produced a record-high wind gust on the Isles of Scilly, amid wider adverse conditions bringing heavy snow.

Around 1,000 schools were closed across England and Scotland on Thursday due to poor travel conditions caused by recent snow and cold.

Multiple weather warnings are in effect, primarily for further snow and ice, Strong gales were also expected, with a gust of 99 mph at the Isles of Scilly's St. Mary's Airport a new record at the site.

Wind forecast map showing extreme winds around southwest England and the Isles of Scilly, with red and pink shading, streamlines, a windsock warning icon, and gusts up to 95 mph near coastal areas.

UK warning map dated Thu 08.01 showing wind warning levels with green, yellow, orange, and red shading across regions, a windsock warning icon, city labels, and a legend indicating levels 1 to 4.

Night-time weather radar over the UK and western Europe showing blue and pink precipitation bands for rain and snow, a rotating low pressure system marked with an L over southern Britain.

UK warning map dated Thu 08.01 showing snow and ice warning levels with green, yellow, and orange shading across regions, a snowflake warning icon, city labels, and a legend indicating levels 1 to 4.

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Severe gales arrive in the far south-west Thursday evening.

For snow, Wales and the English Midlands are most likely to see the heaviest accumulations, with up to 30 cm possible in some areas.

National Rail has advised all passengers to double-check travel plans, particularly for Friday, with some lines seeing a reduced schedule from the afternoon. All trains running in Cornwall are set to be halted from 06:00 pm Thursday.

Why Goretti?

After Storm Bram in December, the next name in the 2025-26 storm list is Chandra. So why Goretti? The system was named by Météo-France. To help with consistency, any name given by a meteorological agency is adopted internationally.

Goretti brings only a glancing impact, with the system passing through southern England quickly en-route to Europe.

Norfolk feels coldest night of winterread more

Ryan Hathaway

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