The Met Office has issued new amber warnings for snow and wind ahead of the arrival of Storm Goretti, after parts of the UK saw heavy snowfall and drifting.
It follows Aberdeenshire Council declaring a major incident on Tuesday after the Met Office issued an amber weather warning for heavy snow covering much of Aberdeenshire and northeast Scotland.
While temperatures were expected to be slightly warmer on Wednesday, more sleet and snow were expected across northern Scotland, and the Met Office said thicker cloud with rain was expected to arrive across Northern Ireland, southwest Wales and southwest England later in the day.
Thursday was then expected to see a cloudy and cold start before Storm Goretti, named by French meteorological service, Meteo France, comes in from the South West.
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Sky News meteorologist Dr Christopher England said the “exact storm track is a little uncertain” but the “most likely scenario is heavy rain spreading from the southwest on Thursday turning to snow from around Wales across to East Anglia”.
He said “significant falls” were likely, along with “severe gales around southern coasts”.
The weather warning came as the UK was dealing with the impact of the cold.
In Chilmington, Ashford, a bus carrying schoolchildren crashed in Kent after slipping on black ice. There were no reported injuries.
Later, in Berkshire, a school coach collided with a bus in Reading due to “very icy” road conditions. Nine children, the driver of the coach and eight adults from the bus suffered minor injuries, according to the South Central Ambulance.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended its amber cold health alert across England until midday on Sunday.
Many places in Aberdeenshire saw up to a foot (30cm) of snow, with conditions causing difficulty for health services.
The location which saw the most was Tomintoul in Moray, which the Met Office recorded as seeing a depth of 46cm (18ins) at 9am on Wednesday.
Aberdeenshire Council said that it expects a “prolonged period of significant impacts” over the weather.
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New weather warnings issued by Met Office
The Met Office has issued two yellow warnings snow and ice for the rest of Wednesday.
Thursday sees eight yellow warnings and two amber warnings.
There is a yellow warning for snow and ice in place until midday on Thursday in Scotland, a warning for ice in place across Northern Ireland until 10am on Thursday, and an amber warning for wind in Cornwall until 11pm on Thursday.
Most of the other warnings continue from Thursday into Friday.
There is a yellow warning for snow across the Midlands, most of Wales, part of northern England and parts of the South West until midday on Friday. In parts of this area, the warning is upgraded to amber until 9am on Friday.
There are yellow warnings for rain in place in West Wales until 10am on Friday and East Anglia until 9pm on Friday.
There is a warning for wind across the South West until 6am on Friday, with Dartmoor and Exmoor under a snow warning until 9am on the same day.
The Met Office warned that in where rain associated with Storm Goretti turns to snow, which is likely to be “initially on hills and then to lower levels overnight… accumulations of 10-15 cm are likely fairly widely, with the potential for 20-30 cm in some locations, mainly on hills above 200m elevation, more especially in Wales and/or the Peak District”.
Hundreds of schools were shut in Shetland, Orkney, and Aberdeenshire.
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National Rail said heavy snow was causing disruption to services across northern Scotland and because of Storm Goretti, anyone travelling anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales before Friday was strongly advised to check their full journey before they travel.
Meanwhile, ice climbing instructor Mick Ellerton was able to scale a waterfall in Gordale Scar, near Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which had frozen over completely.
And animals at the Highland Kincraig Wildlife Park, including polar bears and snow leopards, were able to enjoy conditions their breeds are more accustomed to as the heavy snow fell in the region.
