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Key events
More than 50,000 properties were reportedly without power in the South West on Thursday evening, the National Grid’s website said.
In the West Midlands about 9,000 had no electricity and 2,000 were without power in Wales.
As mentioned the Met Office issued a rare red warning for south-west England over “dangerous, stormy” winds.
‘Multi-hazard’ Storm Goretti brings heavy rain, strong winds and snow to UK
Heavy rain, strong winds and snow hit parts of the UK on Thursday as the “multi-hazard” Storm Goretti battered more exposed areas, caused travel disruption and saw red and amber weather warnings issued across the country.
Storm Goretti, named by Meteo France, evolved into a “weather bomb”, bringing up to 30cm of snowfall in Wales and the Midlands as well as winds of up to 100mph (160km/h) across exposed hills and coastal areas.
Amber weather warnings had been issued across the UK on Thursday with Storm Goretti expected to bring a potential risk to life in parts of the country, but a rare red warning for “dangerous, stormy” winds was issued by the Met Office later for south-west England.
The warning, from 4pm until 11pm on Thursday, saw “violent gusts” over two to three hours hit parts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
The Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said the storm would mean “wet, windy and wintry weather” in parts of the UK. He said Goretti would bring “some strong winds and some significant snow to central and perhaps southern parts”.
He added:
As that rain pushes its way and it hits against that cold air that we currently have across us … and so on the northern edge, we are likely to see some fairly significant snow as we go through later tomorrow and into Friday.
There was also a yellow warning for snow and ice in Scotland from 10pm on Wednesday until midday on Thursday and a yellow warning for ice in Northern Ireland from Wednesday through to Thursday morning.
National Highways issued its own amber warning for snow in the West and East Midlands, which began at 6pm on Thursday and will stay in place until 9am on Friday. The agency said in a statement:
Routes particularly around Birmingham across to Leicester and Nottingham will see particularly difficult driving conditions and consideration of the weather forecast should be taken before commencing journeys, with considerable delays possible.
Rail services have also been affected, with National Rail advising passengers to check their journeys before travelling and Eurostar warning that customers on routes to and from London St Pancras were likely to see delays and cancellations.
While major airports have said they will be operating as normal, airports in Jersey and Guernsey closed at 6pm on Thursday due to Storm Goretti.
We will bring you weather updates as they come in.
