Met Office weather warnings for snow, ice and wind expanded after deadly Storm Goretti
Met Office issues number of weather warnings across UK on Sunday, warning of up to 20cm of snow, as much as 110mm of rain, and gusts of up to 70mph
More snow, ice, wind, and rain are set to hit the UK as further weather warnings are in force across the country following deadly Storm Goretti.
Britons continue to face severe wintry conditions, after the recent storm brought gusts of almost 100mph and a rare red warning for "dangerous, stormy" winds in the South West, where a man was killed.
Despite the worst of the storm moving away, the Met Office has issued a number of weather alerts across northern England and Scotland throughout Sunday, warning of up to 20cm of snow, as much as 110mm of rain, and gusts of up to 70mph, with two alerts continuing into Monday morning.
A yellow warning for snow and ice came into force at 2am on Sunday, which covers areas in the North East and North West, Scotland and north Yorkshire until 2pm. Here, the Met Office warned that between 2 to 5cm of snow was likely before it turns to rain and up to 20cm of snow was possible above 200m elevation.
In south-west Scotland, Lothian Border and Strathclyde, a yellow warning for rain is in place until the end of Sunday.
Another alert for rain covers north-eastern areas of Scotland until 10am on Monday, where up to 110mm of rain could be possible over parts of Skye, Lochaber, Argyll and the Trossachs, the forecaster said.
A yellow warning for wind is in place for north-west Scotland, which could see gusts of up to 85mph, until 8am on Monday.
For the Orkney and Shetland islands, a yellow warning for wind has also been issued until 3pm on Sunday.
The Met Office has advised those within regions covered by alerts to prepare for delayed journeys, potentially dangerous driving conditions and to take extra time to help avoid slips and falls on the ice.
An amber alert for snow in Scotland has been lifted by the weather service, along with one for rain in Northern Ireland.
The further warnings come after a tree fell onto a caravan in Helston, Cornwall, killing a man in his 50s on Thursday evening, with emergency services saying removal efforts continued into Friday.
As of Sunday afternoon, thousands of properties were still without power following the storm, according to the National Grid’s website, while National Rail warned disruption to train travel is possible until Monday
A government minister said it is “entirely unacceptable” that people in several areas in the South East and South West are experiencing water supply issues following cold weather and the storm.
In a statement on Saturday evening, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs minister Mary Creagh said she had chaired a meeting with water companies and “local resilience forums” aimed at restoring supplies as soon as possible while “prioritising vulnerable customers and essential public services”.
South East Water said on its website that customers in East Grinstead, West Sussex, and the surrounding areas have had “no water, intermittent supply or low pressure” from Saturday morning, and despite work to resolve this, the company “do not expect this situation to improve until the end of the weekend”.
In Cornwall, South West Water said on Saturday morning that six major water mains in the Helston area had been damaged by Storm Goretti which was continuing to affect water supply for customers. Repair works are ongoing, the company said, adding that it had restored supplies to more than half of those affected.
Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said a new weather system is expected to bring milder conditions and rain during a “messy transition” from Storm Goretti.
He added: “This time the milder air will eventually win the day and it will herald a very different flavour of weather for all of us as we go into next week, but it’s going to be a very kind of messy transition.”
Sunday is expected to be “wet and windy” in the southern half of the UK, but with gusts “nowhere near as strong as they were for Goretti”, he added.
However, some gales may still hit the coastlands, Mr Snell said, adding that this was not uncommon for the time of year.
Next week, the UK will see “unsettled” conditions but will be “saying goodbye to the really cold weather”, with temperatures of between 9C and 11C expected in the south and about 6-8C in the north, the forecaster said.
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