Storm Goretti upends student travel plans after campus made ‘inaccessible’ and trains and buses disrupted

Students returning to campus after the Christmas break are facing ongoing travel disruption, after snowfall from Storm Goretti temporarily forced the closure of the University campus on Friday morning (9 January).

A notification sent on the SafeZone app shortly before 8am warned students and staff to “not travel to campus”, after the University invoked its Severe Weather Policy.

The arrival of Storm Goretti on Thursday afternoon brought snowfall and icy conditions to the University and local areas, with thousands of homes left without power across the West Midlands.

While the University warned that campus was “inaccessible” on Friday morning, buildings, including the Library and the Students’ Union, remained open. An offer holder day for prospective Statistics students also went ahead as planned.

A sleepy pre-term campus was met with a dusting of snow overnight, thanks to Storm Goretti. Image: Martin Day / The Boar

The University confirmed shortly after midday on Friday that campus was “now accessible”, with main roads “clear and gritted”. The advice to students on campus remained to “take care when travelling and to refer to travel advice”.

A spokesperson for the University told The Boar: “Throughout the day, efforts have been made by multiple teams to make campus accessible and the Severe Weather Policy is no longer in place and the messaging has been updated.”

While the heaviest snow over the West Midlands has now eased, the Met Office has warned that Storm Goretti will “continue to cause problems” on Friday, bringing a mixture of rain, sleet, and snow to the country.

With a yellow weather warning remaining in place until Saturday for ice, travel still looks set to be disrupted for students returning to campus over the weekend following the Christmas break, even as campus reopens.

Network Rail has advised passengers across the West Midlands to “check before they travel over the coming days”, with many rail operators issuing ‘do not travel’ warnings for the remainder of Friday.

Services departing from both Coventry and Leamington Spa have been heavily disrupted, with some routes facing cancellations until mid-afternoon on Friday, including journeys between Coventry and Birmingham, Coventry and London Euston, and Leamington and Leeds.

Avanti West Coast has said that an amended timetable will operate across all their Midlands routes until 3pm on Friday, while CrossCountry services from Birmingham to Manchester, Cardiff, Nottingham, and Bristol are currently not operating.

Storm Goretti also brought with it icy conditions, leaving footpaths, like this one pictured in Cryfield Village, dangerous and ‘inaccessible’ on Friday. Image: Cameron Cotterrell

Bus services in and around campus have resumed after widespread cancellations earlier on Friday morning, although some U1 services remain cancelled.

Those travelling from further afield may also be affected, with flights into Birmingham Airport remaining heavily disrupted after the airport was forced to suspend all flights on Thursday evening.

While the runway has now reopened on a reduced basis, flights arriving to the airport currently remain delayed, on average, by two and a half hours. Flights from Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Paris were also cancelled on Friday morning.

Any pre-term aversion to return to the library looks set to be short-lived, however, as brighter, milder conditions usher in the new term.

Campus is expected to remain open as usual next week. However, the University said: “Because of changing conditions, please continue to check the MyWarwick webpages, app, and Insite for the latest updates.”