Storm Goretti sweeps United Kingdom, France with winds over 120 mph
Nearly half a million people had their power cut on Friday as a strong storm unleashed winds over 130 mph in France and the United Kingdom.
Falmouth University student Anna Richmond inspects the damage to her car which was crushed outside her rented accommodation by fallen trees during Storm Goretti on Jan. 09, 2026 in Falmouth, England. (Photo by Hugh Hastings/Getty Images)
A powerful storm system, named "Goretti" by Météo-France, moved across the United Kingdom and France on Friday, leaving downed trees and power cuts affecting nearly half a million customers.
The storm also spread snow across parts of Great Britain.
A fallen tree in Falmouth, Cornwall. Storm Goretti continues to batter the UK with tens of thousands of Britons across the country facing widespread power cuts, travel disruption and school closures. Picture date: Friday Jan. 9, 2026. (Photo by Matt Keeble/PA Images via Getty Images)
The worst of the 55,000 U.K. power outages were in the southwest at Cornwall, where 73 percent of National Grid U.K. power customers were without power as of Friday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.US.
A weather station at Padstow NCI in Cornwall recorded a wind gust of 123 mph (198 km/h). One man had his home's roof ripped off as hail and rain poured in through cracks in the walls. Off the southwest shore, a peak gust of 99 mph (159 km/h) was reported at St. Mary's on the Isles of Scilly, the highest there since 1991, the Met Office said.
To the southeast, a 121 mph (195 km/h) gust was measured at Barfleur, on the tip of France's Cotentin peninsula. Winds were even worse in Normandy, France, with a wind gust of 132 mph (212 km/h) recorded in Gatteville-le-Phare. At one point, more than 380,000 customers were without power in France.
The storm affected rail services in the English West Midlands, as well as trains in France and Germany.
Travel and school disruptions in Scotland from a storm earlier this week were extended by Friday's storm. The nation was hit with 20 inches (51 cm) of snow on Monday, and many schools shuttered again on Friday, wrapping up a full week of closures.
An upturned beach hut, damaged by the storm on Jan. 09, 2026 in Hastings, United Kingdom. Storm Goretti, named by Météo-France, is the first named storm of 2026 to hit the UK. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
