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The UK is braced for further disruption as heavy snow and strong winds are forecast to hit swathes of England and Wales on Thursday, with the arrival of Storm Goretti.
Many parts of the country are already reeling from days of travel chaos and school closures, although Tuesday night was not expected to be as chilly as Monday, when temperatures fell to -12.5C in Norfolk, making it this winter’s coldest night so far.
But warnings for snow and ice remain in place across the country into Wednesday daytime.
With more than 1,000 schools closed across the UK on Tuesday from Oxfordshire to Orkney, some pupils in the north of Scotland were set to enjoy a further extension of the Christmas holidays.
Aberdeen city council announced that all schools in the area would be closed on Wednesday, as would those in adjoining Aberdeenshire, where it has declared a major incident as the region deals with heavy snowfall. The local authority warned there was a “good chance” some rural communities would be cut off and there could be power cuts.
The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for ice across most of England, Wales and southern Scotland until 10am on Wednesday, with a similar yellow warning for Northern Ireland until 11am.
A yellow warning means some disruption is possible, such as travel delays, but many people can continue with their daily routine, according to the Met Office.
There is a yellow warning for snow and ice in place until midnight on Wednesday for the rest of northern Scotland, where up to 20cm of fresh snow is expected in some areas, with strong winds causing drifting.
Storm Goretti is expected to bring disruption in south-west England, with a yellow warning for strong winds in place for Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly from 3pm on Thursday until just before midnight.
The Met Office has issued snow warnings for large parts of England and Wales from 6pm on Thursday until midday on Friday when a deep area of low pressure will move across the south of the UK bringing rain, snow and strong winds.
The severe wintry weather will be brought by the strong winds over northern France, named Storm Goretti by the country’s official forecaster, Météo France.
On Tuesday, seven midweek football matches were cancelled in Scotland because of the freezing conditions.
Police Scotland said the impact of the snow was likely to be felt over the next few days in the north and north-east of Scotland, and urged people to follow travel advice.
Harriet Cross, the Conservative MP for Gordon and Buchan in the north-east of Scotland, praised more than 100 “heroic” farmers and contractors for rescuing drivers, clearing roads and helping to transport supplies in blizzard conditions.
Cross, whose constituency is one of the worst affected by the treacherous weather, said: “Our heroic farmers have gone above and beyond to help stranded travellers to navigate through the treacherous conditions.”
“Not only have they been out rescuing drivers and clearing roads, but our farmers have also been working round the clock caring for their own livestock as they battle against some of the worst snowfall in recent memory.”
