Nine children and nine adults suffered minor injuries on Wednesday after two school buses crashed on icy roads in Wokingham, Berkshire. One adult and one child were taken to Royal Berkshire Hospital for further treatment. Separately, another school bus slid into a ditch in Kent after hitting black ice, though no injuries were reported.
The incidents occurred as Arctic conditions continue to disrupt much of the UK. The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice until midday Thursday for Scotland and northern England, ahead of Storm Goretti, which is forecast to bring heavy snow, rain and strong winds from Thursday into Friday.
In northern Scotland, recovery efforts are under way after heavy snow left hundreds of schools closed and some rural areas cut off. Aberdeenshire Council had declared a major incident on Tuesday. By Wednesday evening, all trunk roads were open and most local roads passable with care. All rail lines except the Far North between Invergordon and Wick/Thurso were operating, and airports and ferries were running normally.
The Met Office has issued a yellow snow warning for much of England and Wales from 6pm Thursday to midday Friday, with an amber warning for parts of Wales, the Midlands and South Yorkshire from Thursday evening into Friday. Forecasters predict 5-10cm of snow widely, with up to 30cm possible locally. Gusts of 50-60mph are expected in the south-west, reaching 80-90mph on exposed coasts.
The amber and yellow warnings could cause travel delays, power cuts and mobile signal disruption. An amber wind warning is in place for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly from 5pm to 11pm Thursday. Yellow rain warnings cover eastern England and west Wales from Thursday to Friday.
Hundreds of thousands of households have triggered cold weather payments of £25, as temperatures are forecast to drop to -6°C in rural Scotland. The UK Health Security Agency has extended amber cold health alerts for England until Sunday.
