Emergency alerts sent in southwest England as UK braces for big storm

LONDON — Britain braced Thursday for potentially life-threatening winds, rains and snowfall as a severe storm headed in from the southwest of England during what already has been one of the country's worst cold snaps in years.

The Met Office, Britain's national meteorological service, issued a rare red weather warning — its highest — for the southwest of England for Thursday evening. It warned of ''violent gusts'' up to 100 mph (160 kph) for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which are exposed and thinly populated parts of the U.K. The agency warned of damage to buildings and homes, flying debris, widespread travel cancellations and power cuts.

Red weather warnings are issued when the forecaster considers it to be ''very likely that there will be a risk to life, with substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and possibly widespread damage to property and infrastructure.''

The storm, which has been named Goretti by French weather service France Meteo, is then expected to traverse through central England, where snowfall of as much as 30 centimeters (12 inches) is expected just a few hours, disrupting schools, travel and commerce, especially in rural areas.

Goretti is expected to leave Britain's shores on Friday and then impact other parts of northwest Europe that already have endured snow, ice and freezing temperatures in recent days. The Met Office said even stronger winds from Goretti are expected in the Channel Islands and northern France.

''This multi-hazard event will bring significant disruption to many,'' said Neil Armstrong, chief forecaster at the Met Office. ''This is a complex spell of severe weather."

Emergency sirens

Compatible cell phones will make a loud siren-like sound even if they are set on silent, the fifth time alerts have been used in this way. The sound and vibration will last for about 10 seconds. The first one was sent at 3 p.m. to those in the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off southwest England. The second was sent two hours later to people in Cornwall, the county at the tip of southwest England.

Not just southwest England

The Met Office also issued amber warnings — one down from red — for other parts of the U.K., including central England. These have an ''increased likelihood of impacts from severe weather," meaning there is the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, flight cancellations, power cuts and potential risk to life and property.

The U.K. Health Security Agency also extended amber cold weather alerts across all regions of England until Jan. 12, meaning severe health impacts are expected. Officials expect a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions, with impacts also possible on younger age groups.

Many parts of Wales, northern England and Scotland have been blanketed over the past few days with snow that has led to numerous school closures and travel disruption.

In the Netherlands, the bad weather eased on Thursday, helping Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, which saw hundreds of flights canceled on each of the first three days of the working week. However, it was briefly hit by a power outage in the morning.

Dutch national carrier KLM said there were still long lines of passengers at the airport but added that it was ''doing everything possible to ensure departing passengers leave on time.''

On the other side of Europe, in the southeastern countries of the Balkans, bad weather was continuing to bring widespread disruption.

In Serbia, heavy snow has snarled traffic while temperatures in Slovenia have fallen to -25 degrees Celsisus (minus 13 Fahrenheit.

Bosnia, Kosovo and Montenegro faced floods after heavy rainfall and snow caused local rivers to overflow their banks, forcing dozens of people to evacuate their homes.