Storm Goretti lashes Channel coast with 200 kph gusts, snow and widespread power cuts

Hurricane-force gusts topping 200 kph (124 mph) slammed into France’s northern coastline overnight as Storm Goretti tore across the English Channel, cutting power to hundreds of thousands of homes, battering transport networks and shutting schools across parts of Britain and northern Europe. Despite the storm’s intensity, early reports Friday pointed to limited casualties.

A rapidly deepening “weather bomb”

The powerful North Atlantic system—classified by meteorologists as a rapidly deepening “weather bomb”—hit its peak as it crossed the Channel late Thursday into Friday. France bore the brunt of the winds, while heavy snow and ice brought separate but severe disruption across large swaths of the United Kingdom.

Goretti is the seventh named storm of the 2025–26 European windstorm season. Météo-France named the system on Jan. 6 as it organized over the Atlantic; the Free University of Berlin designated it Elli for use in German forecasts. By Thursday, forecasters in several countries were warning that the storm would be a “multi-hazard event,” combining destructive wind, heavy snow and dangerous coastal seas.

Record gusts along France’s Normandy coast

On the exposed Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, instruments at Gatteville-le-Phare near Barfleur recorded gusts between 213 and 216 kph (132 to 134 mph), local officials said—among the strongest non-mountain wind speeds ever measured in mainland France. Along the Channel coast, gusts frequently reached 140 to 160 kph (87 to 99 mph), with 100 to 120 kph (62 to 75 mph) common farther inland across Normandy and Brittany. The Paris region saw gusts nearer 90 to 100 kph (56 to 62 mph).

In Britain, winds were most severe in the far southwest. At St Mary’s Airport on the Isles of Scilly, off Cornwall, a gust of about 99 mph (159 kph) was logged overnight, a record for the site. Elsewhere across southern England and Wales, gusts typically ranged from 50 to 60 mph (80 to 97 kph), strong enough to topple trees and damage power lines, especially on coasts and higher ground.

Snow and ice disrupt central Britain

Snow and ice were the main hazard away from the coasts. The U.K. Met Office issued an amber warning for heavy snow across parts of Wales, the Midlands and into northern England, with accumulations of 10 to 15 centimeters (4 to 6 inches) likely and up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) possible on higher ground in the Peak District and Welsh uplands. In northern Scotland, where deep snow was already in place from earlier in the week, Goretti reinforced existing disruption.

“Storm Goretti will be a multi-hazard event, with the most significant impacts from snow in parts of Wales and the Midlands and the very strong winds in the far southwest,” Neil Armstrong, chief forecaster at the Met Office, said.

Authorities in both France and the U.K. took the unusual step of issuing their highest-level wind alerts for certain areas, a measure reserved for only the most dangerous conditions.

Red warnings issued in France and the U.K.

Météo-France placed the Manche department in Normandy under a red warning for violent winds on Thursday, warning that coastal gusts could exceed 150 kph and that flying debris, falling trees and power outages were likely.

The Met Office issued a rare red warning for wind for western Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, warning of “danger to life” from 80 to 100 mph gusts, large waves and beach material thrown inland. It also posted amber warnings for wind in the far southwest and for snow in central Britain, with multiple yellow warnings for wind, snow, ice and rain covering much of England and Wales.

Power outages and transport disruption

By dawn Friday, the scale of the damage was clear on both sides of the Channel.

France: hundreds of thousands without electricity

In France, grid operator Enedis said about 380,000 households were without electricity at 6 a.m., most of them in Normandy, which accounted for roughly 266,000 outages. Tens of thousands more homes were affected in Brittany, Picardy and the wider Paris area.

Rail services into and across Normandy were heavily hit. The main Paris–Normandy route was suspended and regional lines were “almost entirely” interrupted after trees and debris fell onto tracks and overhead lines. Around Paris, some RER and Transilien commuter lines were partially suspended for similar reasons. Roads—including sections of the RN13 in Manche—were blocked by fallen trees and damaged infrastructure.

Along the Channel coast, waves of 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) pounded sea walls. Local authorities reported instances of coastal flooding and seawater overtopping defenses in exposed seaside towns, including parts of the Alabaster Coast such as Étretat.

The French Interior Ministry said Friday morning that no deaths had been confirmed. Officials reported at least half a dozen minor injuries and one person seriously hurt in the Nord department after being struck by a falling tree or debris. Emergency services in Finistère alone carried out more than 300 interventions overnight, mainly to remove downed trees, secure damaged roofs and deal with live power lines on roads.

Britain: snow closes routes and runways

In Britain, power cuts were less extensive but still significant. National Grid and regional distributors reported that about 45,000 to 60,000 customers lost electricity at various points on Friday, mostly in Cornwall, Devon, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Wales and the Midlands where heavy, wet snow weighed down lines.

Travel was severely disrupted. Rail operators across England and Wales issued “do not travel” notices on some routes. In central England, West Midlands Railway suspended services for the day while damage was assessed.

The Hope Valley route between Sheffield and Manchester was closed from Thursday night through at least the start of service Saturday after heavy snow forecasts. Chiltern Railways ran a reduced timetable, with some routes cut to one train per hour and no trains north of Birmingham Moor Street.

Airports in the English Midlands briefly shut their runways. Birmingham Airport suspended operations to clear snow, while East Midlands Airport also closed its runway due to heavy snowfall, citing passenger safety.

On the Channel Islands, authorities on Guernsey and Alderney reported roofs torn from buildings, stone walls collapsed and more than 60 trees brought down. A block of flats housing about 50 people was evacuated after part of its roof failed. Schools on Guernsey were closed Friday, and no serious injuries were reported.

Across Scotland and northern and central England, more than 500 schools were closed, many in areas already struggling with snow earlier in the week.

Disruption spreads across northern Europe

The storm’s reach extended beyond France and Britain. In Germany—where the system is referred to as Elli—authorities activated snow response plans at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport and closed some schools in northern states including Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony. Meteorological services in Belgium and the Netherlands issued yellow and orange warnings for wind, snow and ice, with reports of localized travel disruption and power cuts.

What made Goretti so intense—and what comes next

Meteorologists said Goretti’s rapid deepening over the Atlantic met the technical definition of explosive cyclogenesis—a central pressure drop of more than 24 hectopascals in 24 hours. Britain’s Met Office warned that winds in the far southwest could rival or exceed those recorded in storms Eunice (2022) and Ciarán (2023), both of which caused extensive damage.

Early comparisons suggested that while Goretti produced record gusts at some sites, particularly along the Normandy coast, the scale of power outages in France remained below those during Ciarán, when around 1.2 million customers lost electricity. The relatively low number of confirmed casualties so far has prompted early assessments that aggressive warnings and widespread pre-emptive closures may have reduced the human toll.

Scientists cautioned that it will take time to determine what role, if any, human-driven climate change played in Goretti’s intensity or track. Still, the storm adds to a string of severe winter windstorms affecting western Europe in recent years that have repeatedly tested power grids, railways and coastal defenses.

With the storm season only halfway through, officials in Paris, London and other capitals are already facing questions over repair timelines and whether long-term investments—such as burying overhead power lines, reinforcing sea walls and improving vegetation management along rail routes—are keeping pace with a stormier North Atlantic.

As crews worked Friday to restore electricity, reopen railways and clear blocked roads, forecasters warned that lingering snow, ice and high seas would continue to pose hazards. For many communities along the Channel and across snowbound uplands, the full recovery from Goretti’s overnight assault is likely to take days.