Storm Goretti batters Britain with 99mph winds, leaving 50,000 without power

Thursday's weather across Britain turned violent. Storm Goretti arrived with winds that reached 99 miles per hour in some places, snapping trees, forcing airports to shut down, and leaving more than 50,000 homes in the South West without electricity by evening. The Met Office, Britain's national weather service, had issued a rare red alert for the region—a warning reserved for the most dangerous conditions, when forecasters believe there is genuine risk to life.

The storm was named by French meteorologists and arrived as what the Met Office described as a "multi-hazard event." The winds were only part of it. Heavy snow was falling across Wales, the Midlands, and parts of northern England, with forecasters predicting up to 30 centimeters on higher ground in Wales and the Peak District. Rain and ice were also moving through different parts of the country. The combination meant that Friday would bring continued chaos across transport networks, schools, and utilities.

The wind record fell at St Mary's Airport on the Isles of Scilly, where the 99mph gust marked a new high for that location. In the South West, the power cuts were extensive: 50,000 properties offline. The West Midlands saw about 9,000 without power, and Wales had roughly 2,000. All train services in Cornwall were cancelled from 6pm Thursday onward. In Devon, two key rail routes—Exeter to Okehampton and Exeter to Barnstaple—were also suspended because of the forecast wind speeds. Birmingham Airport closed entirely due to the heavy snow.

Neil Armstrong, the Met Office's chief forecaster, explained that while the South West would bear the brunt of the wind, the snow posed the most significant disruption elsewhere. "The most significant impacts from snow in parts of Wales and the Midlands and the very strong winds in the far South West, though heavy rain in some parts of Wales and East Anglia also has the potential to bring disruption to many," he said. The forecaster warned of winds potentially reaching 100mph in exposed areas.

By Friday morning, the red alert had expired, but the warnings remained in place across the country in different colors. A yellow warning for wind covered the rest of the south coast and Wales, where gusts of up to 70mph were expected. An amber warning for snow ran until 9am Friday across Wales, the Midlands, and Yorkshire, with 10 to 15 centimeters of snow likely in most areas. Scotland faced its own yellow warning for snow and ice, with more than 250 schools already announced as closed for Friday—over 150 in Aberdeenshire alone, plus dozens in the Highlands, Aberdeen, and Moray.

School closures rippled across the affected regions. Dozens of schools in the Midlands and Wales announced Friday shutdowns where the amber warning applied. The disruption to rail services was expected to continue throughout Friday, with National Rail warning of delays and cancellations across most of the network. The red alert itself had warned of potential damage to buildings and homes, very large waves in coastal areas, flying debris that could endanger life, widespread power cuts, and public transport cancellations—all of which came to pass or remained possible as the system moved through.

What distinguishes an amber warning from a yellow one, according to the Met Office, is the likelihood and severity of impacts. Amber warnings indicate an increased chance of severe weather effects including travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts, and potential risk to life and property. Yellow warnings cover situations where impacts are expected to be low-level—some disruption in a few places—or where severe impacts are possible but less certain. By Friday, most of the country was operating under one or the other, with the South West still in the grip of the most dangerous conditions.