A new tracker has revealed where Storm Goretti will dump up to eight inches of snow in the UK as an ice warning is set to cover the whole of Britain on Wednesday.
The Met Office confirmed the storm will bring widespread snow, heavy rain and severe gales to England and Wales this week.
Up to eight inches of snow is set to blanket the Home Counties on Thursday and Friday.
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.
London and the southwest are expected to forego any significant snowfall, while Scotland will see further wintry showers on Wednesday before missing out on being hit by Storm Goretti.
The Met Office has issued yellow ice warnings for most of the UK, including Northern Ireland, for Wednesday morning amid an Arctic air mass.
It warned people to avoid injuring themselves on icy surfaces, and said slippery roads, pavements and cycle paths are to be expected.
Forecaster Marco Petagna said: ‘In the ice warnings, be careful of slippery surfaces and potential for injuries, so take care on footpaths.
‘Icy patches could affect untreated roads, not all roads and pavements and cycle paths are treated so just be aware that away from major highways there could be icy and slippery conditions for a while tomorrow morning.’
A new tracker shows the storm sweeping across the whole of Britain, most aggressively in the south.
A new tracker has revealed where Storm Goretti will dump up to eight inches of snow in the UK
A car drives through the snow as people walk in Main Street Alford, Scotland, on Tuesday evening
People enjoy the snow in Westminster on Tuesday afternoon as the UK is hit by severe weather
People walk through the snow on Tuesday after Aberdeenshire Council declared a ‘major incident’
A five-month-old Amur tiger cub enjoys its first snow day at Knowsley Safari park in Merseyside
Cubs Akira and Ozo have embraced the wintry conditions at Knowsley Safari park in Merseyside
The Met Office advised those travelling on Wednesday morning to check road conditions, bus and train timetables and amend travel plans if necessary.
A yellow warning means some disruption is possible, but many people can continue with their daily routine, according to the forecaster.
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 on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, more than 1,000 schools across the UK shut on Tuesday as snow descended – with flurries even reaching central London.
A bus crashed in Liverpool on Tuesday morning while drivers and walkers became trapped in deep snow in parts of Wales, with some even needing to be rescued in military vehicles.
Some train services were cancelled in Scotland and England after heavy snow obstructed the lines and points froze over.
And a major incident has been declared in Aberdeenshire, with on MSP calling for the army to be drafted in.
The Met Office predicted: ‘Storm Goretti [is] 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.
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People walk through a snow shower in Lumsden, Scotland, on Tuesday afternoon
A man clears snow from a road with a digger near Gartly in Aberdeenshire on Tuesday morning
A double-decker bus crashed on an icy surface on Aigburth Drive in Liverpool on Tuesday morning
The A97 in the Aberdeenshire village of Rhynie on Tuesday amid severe snowy and icy conditions
‘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 is 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.
Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster Chris Bulmer added: ‘A deepening area of low pressure – named Storm Goretti by Meteo France – will move across the south of the UK during Thursday and into Friday.
‘It will clash with the very cold air here, meaning Thursday night could be what we call a ‘multi-hazard’ event, with snow on the northern flank of the low, wind and rain on the southern flank.
‘We have therefore issued a yellow warning for snow for parts of England and Wales, where heavy snow could lead to disruption and difficult travelling conditions. Strong winds associated with Storm Goretti may also lead to some disruption, and so in addition a yellow wind warning has been issued for southwest England.
‘The exact track of the low is still uncertain, and these warnings are likely to be amended – and potentially escalated – over the coming days. It is therefore vital people keep up-to-date with the latest forecasts.’
Aberdeenshire Council declared a major incident on Tuesday following days of snowfall and more on the way. The local authority said it expects a ‘prolonged period of significant impacts’ including power cuts and transport delays.
It added there is a ‘good chance’ communities could become cut off due to the severity of the snow, and announced all schools in the county will shut on Wednesday.
The recent drop in temperature has triggered cold weather payments for hundreds of thousands of households, designed to help elderly and vulnerable people with heating costs, the Government said.
Eligible households automatically receive £25 when temperatures are recorded or forecast to be zero degrees or below over seven consecutive days.
Payments will support households in 451 postcode areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including Penrith in Cumbria, the Yorkshire Dales, Norwich in Norfolk, Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, and Crawley in West Sussex.
Cold weather payments have been triggered on five separate days, December 30, January 1, January 2, January 3 and January 6, and have been triggered twice for households in parts of Cumbria and Northumberland, which stand to receive a £50 payout.
