Flights were cancelled, train services disrupted, and roads blocked as Storm Goretti advanced across Western Europe. Cold weather warnings covered vast parts of France and Britain on Wednesday. The French weather agency, Météo-France, warned of snowfalls extending across the northern half of the country on Wednesday.
Here are five latest weather updates as Europe continues to freeze:
1. Yellow weather warnings for ice remain in place for Northern Ireland, as well as the north and north-east of Scotland. However, these have been withdrawn across much of England, Wales, and southern Scotland, local news media said. Nevertheless, the Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for wind in south-west England between 15:00 and 23:59 tomorrow, as well as for snow in central England and Wales from 18:00 tomorrow. A yellow warning means disruption, such as travel delays, is possible.
2. Liverpool's John Lennon Airport reopened its runway on Monday, the BBC said, but flights are subject to delay or cancellation. Meanwhile, in Aberdeen, Scotland, passengers were asked to check the status of their flights as some may be hit by the weather.
3. Residents across Scotland have been told to expect a further 5–10 cm of snow, The Guardian said in a report. Temperatures are expected to drop as low as -6°C in parts of rural Scotland and just below freezing more widely overnight, the report quoted the Met Office as saying.
4. Western Europe braced for more snow and ice on Wednesday, with the first named storm of the year hitting the continent's Atlantic coast. Heavy snow hit the Paris region as daylight broke, while the south of Britain is likely to be most heavily affected on Thursday and Friday, Reuters said in a report.
5. Cold weather payments have been triggered on five separate days—30 December, 1 January, 2 January, 3 January, and 6 January—and have been triggered twice for households in parts of Cumbria and Northumberland, The Guardian said in a report.
