Storm Goretti live updates: 65k homes are without power as gales hit

Storm Goretti has battered Britain with snow, winds and rain after sweeping across the country last night.

The devastating storm has caused power cuts, widespread travel disruption and school closures.

If you’re just joining us, here are the main developments overnight:

• 64,000 properties across England and Wales are without power this morning
• The storm brought 99mph winds and up to 1ft (30cm) of snow is expected
• Birmingham and East Midlands airports temporarily suspended operations
• Rail operators issued ‘do not travel’ warnings with all trains in Cornwall axed
• Hundreds of schools are closed while roads are also shut due to fallen trees
• A rare Met Office red ‘stay at home’ warning was issued for the South West

Reporters across Britain were bashed by heavy wind and rain on Thursday as they braved Storm Goretti.

Footage shows several journalists in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly struggling to speak and stand as they worked through blistering conditions.

Stephen Murphy, of Sky News, had to hold onto his hat as he rocked from side to side will reporting on the weather from Newquay, Cornwall.

ITV’s Sangita Lal struggled to talk and had to hold onto something to stand as she was hit by torrential rain in St Ives.

Storm Goretti brought gusts of up to 100mph on Thursday evening, with a rare red weather warning for ‘dangerous, stormy’ winds issued in Cornwall.

by Rory Boland

Widespread travel disruption is expected today, so whether you’re planning to travel by plane, rail or ferry, be sure to check with your operator for the latest information before you set out.

If your flight is disrupted due to the storm and you are flying with a UK or EU airline, or are departing a UK or EU airport with any carrier, your airline must look after you.

You’ll have rights to assistance which can include food and drink and even overnight accommodation if necessary, depending on the length of your delay.

In the event your journey is cancelled, you also have the option to receive a refund or be rerouted on the next available flight.

Rerouting will be the best option in most cases, as this means your airline must get you to your destination as soon as possible – even if this means buying you tickets with a rival carrier who is departing sooner.

Rory Boland is editor of Which? Travel

Yellow weather warnings for snow and ice have been extended into Saturday for large parts of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, the Met Office said.

A yellow warning for snow and ice comes into force from midday Friday until 3pm on Saturday, with further snowfall possible across parts of northern England and much of Scotland, while a widespread risk of ice is expected to cause disruption.

A separate yellow warning for ice will cover large parts of England and Wales from midday Friday until midday Saturday as partially thawed snow refreezes, accompanied by wintry showers and freezing fog.

In Northern Ireland, a yellow warning for snow and ice will come into force from 5pm on Friday and run until 11am on Saturday, with the Met Office warning of icy patches and some hill snow.

Large parts of Britain have woken to snow today after Storm Goretti blew in yesterday.

Here’s just some of our favourite pictures of the nation’s snow-hit landscapes this morning:

Dowlais, near Merthyr Tydfil

Mow Cop Castle, Cheshire

Calton Hill, Edinburgh

Diggle, Greater Manchester

Birmingham Airport reopened this morning but will run a reduced service

British Airways has cancelled more than 50 flights to and from London Heathrow this morning.

The airline said 25 departures had been grounded as well as 27 arrivals with the vast majority of them short-haul routes.

Domestic departures to and from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Jersey and Manchester have been affected along with flights to European destinations such as Madrid, Prague and Milan.

According to The Independent, around 7,000 passengers will have their journeys disrupted as a result.

It comes as Birmingham Airport reopened its runway has reopened with a reduced service but urged passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline.

East Midlands Airport has also reopened after its runway was temporarily closed because of heavy snow

Storm Goretti will continue to cause problems today as a mixture of rain, sleet and snow batter some areas, the Met Office said.

Meteorologist Alex Deakin said the storm will continue to clear throughout Friday, but many still face a ‘wet, cold, miserable day’.

He said:

Storm Goretti continues to cause problems through Friday morning, particularly across parts of eastern England, where we are seeing a mixture of rain, sleet, and still some snow falling.

The heavy snow over the West Midlands and Wales has now eased but of course, is still lying on the floor and still causing some disruption. Gradually, through the day, the storm will continue to clear away, but it’s going to still be a wet, cold miserable day across much of eastern England, and still icy across parts of northern Britain as well.

Train operators have suspended services, amended timetables and even issued ‘do not travel’ advice to passengers as a result of widespread disruption on the railways caused by Storm Goretti.

Here’s a look at how operators have responded:

• Avanti West Coast

The firm has issued “do not travel” advice on its Midlands routes until 1pm on Friday. Normal timetables are expected to resume from 3pm.

• Chiltern Railways

Plans to operate around half of its normal timetable and said it was not running services north of Birmingham Moor Street or on the line to Stratford-upon-Avon. No replacement buses are available.

• East Midlands Railway

EMR said services will be affected by snow on Friday. The Hope Valley, the line between Sheffield and Manchester, will be closed all day while other lines, including between Nottingham and Lincoln and between Leicester and Nottingham, will be closed until after 10am.

• London Northwestern Railway

LNR said it has suspended services between Birmingham New Street and Liverpool Lime Street until Friday afternoon. Its services between Birmingham New Street and London Euston are reduced.

• Transport for Wales

The operator said it will not run services on the majority of its routes on Friday. They include: Llandudno Junction to Llandudno; Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog; Wrexham to Bidston; Craven Arms to Swansea (via Heart of Wales Line); west of Carmarthen; Maesteg to Ebbw; Hereford to Shrewsbury; Shrewsbury to Birmingham International; and Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth.

• West Midlands Railway

WMR said it has suspended all services until Friday afternoon with no replacement rail buses provided because of ‘uncertain road conditions’.

By Jon Brady

As sure as night follows day, the arrival of snow in Britain leads to an inevitable flurry of pictures and videos of drivers trapped in snow or careening into parked cars.

Storm Goretti, a deep area of low pressure, has been blown in from northern France bringing with it freezing cold weather, disruptive winds, heavy rain and, yes – snow and ice. And, as ever, Britain’s drivers can’t cope.

Video footage earlier this week showed a car in Conwy, North Wales, careening down a hill and into a parked car, the driver unable to stop. In Kent, a bus carrying school children skidded off the road into a ditch – fortunately, without any injuries.

With a rare red warning issued for wind and more snow ahead tonight, enough is enough, we say. It’s time for some advice on how to drive on snow – from the people who do it for a living.

Rally drivers are among some of the most skilled pilots in the world – experts at navigating powerful road-legal cars across tarmac, gravel, dirt and snow alike on public roads and closed, high-speed ‘special stages’ which have no speed limits.

It turns out there’s more in common between flying through the forests of Sweden at 100mph and navigating your way out of a snow-filled side street than you might think.

Three drivers stepped up to help: Swedish World Rally Championship (WRC) driver and WRC2 champion Oliver Solberg, two-time British champion Jonny Milner and motoring journalist Nik Berg, who has rallied across continents and raced on ice.

While their advice is just that – not to be taken as professional tuition – these tips could help Brits in a jam if they find themselves in a tricky spot amid the cold snap.

READ MORE:

Commuters in London braved the elements this morning as they made their way to work through strong winds and rain.

Many could be seen struggling with their umbrellas as they headed over London Bridge earlier this morning.

London was spared the worst of Storm Goretti with Cornwall, Wales and the Midlands among the places worst affected.

We want to see and hear how Storm Goretti has impacted you this morning after heavy snow and strong winds swept in overnight.

Please share your photos and videos with us via WhatsApp by clicking here, for publication on the Daily Mail website.

Read more here:

Power has been restored to 147,983 properties across the South West, Midlands, and South Wales after Storm Goretti disrupted access to some sites on Thursday evening, the National Grid has said.

It said teams will ‘continue to work tirelessly’ throughout the day to restore power to the remaining properties without power.