Met Office Issues Amber Alert: Expect More Snow, Heavy Rain, Strong Winds, and Flooding Following Storm Goretti

THE Met Office has issued an amber warning for more snow, adding there is a risk of heavy rain, strong winds and flooding in the wake of Storm Goretti.

It comes after the and a rare red warning for “dangerous, stormy” winds in the South West was issued by forecasters earlier this week.

Heavy snow is falling on much of County Durham this morning as freezing temperatures, heavy snow and strong winds grip the UKCredit: Jordan Crosby The Met Office currently has an amber warning and several yellow warnings in place for todayCredit: Met Office An early morning motorists contends with the snow in Lanchester, County Durham this morningCredit: Jordan Crosby

said a in a caravan after a tree fell on to the vehicle in Helston, .

Emergency services were called to the scene on Thursday evening and work took place on Friday to remove the tree.

On Saturday evening thousands of properties were still without following the storm, according to the National Grid’s website, while National Rail warned disruption to train travel is possible until Monday.

Across the UK, warnings for wind, rain, and ice remain in force for Sunday.

An amber alert for snow covering Aberdeenshire, Moray, Central Tayside and Fife and Highland in is in place until 2pm.

The forecaster warned that between 2cm and 5cm of snowfall is likely at low levels and up to 30cm above 300m elevation in the warning area, with blizzard conditions and deep drifts also possible.

A yellow warning for snow and ice came into force at 2am on Sunday for much of Scotland, the East and , north-east and north-west England and until 3pm.

Between 2cm and 5cm of snow is likely in the alert area, with 10-20cm possible above 200 metres.

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.

In Northern , a yellow alert for rain runs until 9pm on Sunday, with forecasters warning up to 60mm of rainfall is possible on higher ground.

Yellow warnings for wind are also in place for much of Scotland for most of Sunday which could see gusts of up to 70mph.

The Met Office has advised those within regions covered by alerts to prepare for delayed journeys, potentially dangerous conditions and to take extra time to help avoid slips and falls on the ice.

Meanwhile, 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 and the storm.

In a statement on Saturday evening, 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 , 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 some customers had experienced “severe disruption” caused by the storm, widespread power outages and an unrepairable fault at Wendron water treatment works, but it had restored supplies to more than half of those affected.

Both companies listed bottled water stations in impacted areas on their websites.

‘MESSY TRANSITION’

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.

Speaking on Saturday, he added: “It will bump up into the cold air and turn to snow again, but this time it is coming in with some milder air so it will transition back to rain for some of us as we go through the course of the night and into tomorrow and that again could lead to some problems with ice so we already have warnings out ahead of that.

“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.

A car was damaged by falling trees during Storm Goretti in Mawnan Smith, near Falmouth, CornwallCredit: Getty The Brecon Beacons, officially Bannau Brycheiniog National Park was covered in snow yesterdayCredit: Alamy