Up to eight inches of snow this week: Britain braces for cold snap

Up to eight inches of snow are set to blanket the Home Counties this week as Britain shuts up shop for a cold snap that has seen hundreds of schools close and severe travel disruption. The Met Office confirmed this morning that Storm Goretti will bring widespread snow, heavy rain and severe gales to England and Wales on Thursday and Friday. The snowstorm is sure to bring further cold weather for Brits after the worst freeze of the winter so far. Meterologists have issued new yellow snow and wind warnings for South West England, the Midlands and Wales ahead of the storm, named by Météo-France.

Wind gusts are expected to reach 70mph on exposed coasts in Devon and Cornwall, while up to 8in (20cm) of snow could fall on higher ground in England and Wales. Snow is likely to develop over higher ground in South Wales late on Thursday, before rain turns to snow more widely across England and Wales overnight, the Met Office said. London and the southwest are expected to forego any significant snow fall, while Scotland will see further wintry showers on Wednesday before missing out on being hit by Storm Goretti.

The Met Office predicted: 'Storm Goretti likely to bring heavy snow leading to disruption and difficult travelling conditions. A spell of heavy snow is likely to develop over higher ground in south Wales later on Thursday before rain turns to snow more widely over parts of England and Wales during Thursday night. In some areas, 5-10 cm of snow may settle with the potential for up to 20 cm in some locations, especially over higher ground. Strong winds may lead to some drifting of snow. Rain and snow will then clear eastwards during Friday.' A yellow weather warning for snow in place from Thursday evening until noon on Friday encompasses almost all of Wales and a large swathe of central England, including the cities of Birmingham, Nottingham, Peterborough, Oxford and Bath. Meanwhile the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) extended its amber cold health alerts for England until Sunday amid ongoing concerns over a 'rise in deaths'.

There were delays on roads, trains and at airports across the UK today as parts of the country ground to a halt thanks to this week's wintry deluge. The UK's overnight low into this morning was -12.5C (13.8F) at Marham in Norfolk; while London, Birmingham, Bournemouth and Southampton all fell to -8C (18F). The heaviest snow has fallen in Scotland with 52cm (1ft 8in) recorded by the Met Office at Tomintoul in Banffshire, but there was also some snowfall in London today. At least 775 schools closed due to the weather - including 183 in Northern Ireland , 159 in Aberdeenshire, 104 in Carmarthenshire, 82 in Staffordshire, 74 in Gwynedd, 72 in Moray, 45 in North Yorkshire, 41 in Ceredigion and 14 in Wrexham. This morning, severe weather conditions again disrupted road, air and rail travel for commuters with some train lines blocked after heavy snow drifted onto the tracks.

Eurostar cancelled trains from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam due to severe weather on the Dutch network, with services only going as far as Brussels. LNER told passengers travelling between London King's Cross, Leeds and Edinburgh to 'defer travel until further notice' due to a broken rail, and also issued a separate 'do not travel' warning between Edinburgh and Aberdeen because of significant snowfall. Great Northern said a frozen set of points in Norfolk today meant trains could not run between Kings Lynn and Ely; while the conditions also cancelled Merseyrail's Wirral services between Maghull and Rice Lane and between Liverpool and Rock Ferry. Those in West London using the Elizabeth line, Great Western Railway or Heathrow Express also faced major disruption after damage to the overhead electric wires. Further points failures impacted services through Bristol Parkway, Clacton and Selby.

Transport for London said the Northern line was part-suspended between Kennington and Battersea Power Station due to a points failure; while the Piccadilly line had no service between Oakwood and Cockfosters this morning because of a faulty train. The Metropolitan line had delays from Wembley Park to Aldgate due to engineering work; while the Central, Circle and District lines were disrupted due to faulty trains. ScotRail reported disruption due to the snow on its routes between Inverness and Aberdeen, Kyle of Lochalsh, Elgin and Wick; as well as from Aberdeen to Montrose. In Glasgow, services on the city's subway network were suspended this morning on the inner and outer circles after ice on the third rail caused a power failure. Five flights from Aberdeen Airport were cancelled – four KLM planes to Amsterdam and an easyJet service to Gatwick; while three arrivals from Amsterdam were axed. Flights to and from Amsterdam were also cancelled at Inverness Airport this morning.