‘This is a complex spell of severe weather’
The Met Office is issuing weather warnings as a deep area of low pressure crosses the south of the UK. The team explain it’ll bring a ‘multi-hazard’ event through Thursday and into Friday.
An Amber warning for wind has been issued for the west of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly where potentially exceptionally strong winds could cause significant impacts.
An Amber warning for snow has also been issued for most of Wales, the Midlands and southern parts of northern England. Numerous Yellow warnings for wind, snow and rain have also been issued across different regions of England and Wales.
The strongest winds in the UK associated with this system are expected to affect the west of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly where gusts could reach up to 100mph in exposed coastal locations where the Amber warning is in force.
The Met Office adds that very large waves will bring dangerous conditions to coastal areas. They explain they’re exceptional wind speeds and ‘could be stronger than other storms in recent memory such as Storm Ciaran in 2023 and Storm Eunice in 2022.’
They add that strong winds, with gusts of 50-60 mph, will affect the far southwest of Wales and other parts of southern England, especially exposed coasts and hills.
Even stronger winds from Storm Goretti are expected in the Channel Islands and northern France (which is why the storm has been named by Météo-France and does not use a storm name from the Met Office storm list).
‘Storm Goretti will be a multi-hazard event, with the most significant impacts from snow in parts of Wales and the Midlands and the very strong winds in the far southwest, though heavy rain in some parts of Wales and East Anglia also has the potential to bring disruption to many,’ says Neil Armstrong, Met Office Chief Forecaster.
‘Storm Goretti will be a multi-hazard event’
‘Goretti will bring snow on its northern edge, this most likely over Wales and the Midlands. Here accumulations of 10-15 cm are likely widely, with 20-30 cm possible in some places, especially higher ground in Wales and the Peak District.’
‘An Amber warning has been issued where the greatest risk of disruption is likely on Thursday night into Friday morning.’
‘This is a complex spell of severe weather and I’d advise people in the warning areas to keep up to date with the forecast and messages from local authorities.’
Storm Goretti is also expected to bring a spell of snow, with the largest snowfalls most likely to be across Wales and parts of the Midlands, where a further Amber warning has been issued.
Rain will be an additional hazard, particularly for parts of southwest Wales and eastern England as Goretti moves through.
This article was published originally published on 08 January, 2026. Breaktime News has previously reported on the aftermath of Storm Babet in 2023.
