The United Kingdom experiences more tornadoes than any other country in the world relative to its land area, however most tornadoes are relatively weak.[1] An average of 36.5 tornadoes are reported in the UK annually,[2] which is much lower than the United States' average of 800 tornadoes annually.[3] In 1973, Japanese-American meteorologist Ted Fujita, who invented the Fujita scale, was the first to recognise the UK as the top site for tornadoes.[4]
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On 17 October 1091, the earliest known tornado in the UK hit London, which had a population of under 20,000 at the time. The city's buildings were constructed mostly of wood, so the tornado, which has been rated T8 on the TORRO scale (equivalent to F4 on the Fujita scale), destroyed many of them with ease. Many structures were destroyed, including London Bridge, over 600 houses and many churches.[14] The Church of St Mary-le-Bow was hit, killing two people inside it and lifting the roof into the air, with six of the 28-foot (8.5 m) timbers being being fixed into the ground so deep that only about 4 ft (1.2 m) protruded.[15]
On 17 or 21 July 1558, an estimated T7 tornado hit Sneinton, a village less than a mile from Nottingham, where at least six people were killed. As described in Holinshed's Chronicles, the tornado destroyed houses and churches in two towns, throwing bells outside of churchyards and carrying sheets of lead 400 ft (120 m) into a field. The water and mud from the River Trent was carried a quater mile and thrown against trees, and trees were uprooted and carried 'twelve score'. A child was taken carried 100 ft (30 m) high and dropped, breaking his arm and killing him, whilst five or six other men nearby were also killed.[16]
On 23 October 1666, the most intense tornado to hit the UK, which was rated at T8/9, hit the villages of Welbourn, Wellingore, Navenby and Boothby Graffoe in Lincolnshire. In 1749, Thomas Short described the tornado[13] in his book A General Chronological History of the Air, Weather, Seasons, Meteors, &c. in Sundry Places and different Times. He said that in Welbourn it "levelled most of the houses to the ground, broke down some, and tore up other trees by the roots, scattering abroad much corn and hay". He also said a boy was killed before it hit Wellingore, where the tornado "overthrew some houses, and killed two children in them". Short continued, saying it "touched the skirts of Na[ve]nby, and ruined a few houses" before it hit Boothby Graffoe. There, he said it "dashed the church steeple in pieces, furiously rent the church itself, both stone and timber work, [and] left little of either standing, only the body of the steeple". He went on to say the tornado "threw down many trees and houses" before "it moved in a channel, not in great breadth". Short said it had "ruined a great part of that country" and that "it went through Nottinghamshire, where the hail-stones were nine inches about". He said "the whirlwind was about 60 yards broad" and that "on Nottingham Forest it brake down, and tore up at least 1000 trees, overthrew many wind-mills, overset boats on the Trent: And in a village of 50 houses, it left only 7 standing."[17]
On 24 March 1840 a T5 tornado[6] hit Reading railway station, just six days before it opened, where a man was killed. As the tornado was sighted coming along the railway track, a timekeeper was lifted and thrown against the bank and a 40-tonne (44-ton) railway engine was derailed. Coal which had been sucked out of the train's tender was flung in all directions, with one piece shattering a second timekeeper's collarbone. As the tornado reached the station itself, Henry West, a carpenter who was working on the station's roof, was killed after he was jammed into the space between two joints shortly before the 4-tonne (4.4-ton) framework of the roof was ripped off and carried 70 m (230 ft), with his body found 100 m (330 ft) further down the line.[18]
At around 7 a.m. on 28 September 1876, a tornado rated F3 struck Cowes on the Isle of Wight, causing significant damage and many casualties, including one death. After hitting Cowes, the tornado became a waterspout as it crossed The Solent before making landfall again in Hampshire. In Hampshire, a man was killed and a boy badly injured, whilst in Cowes several people suffered injuries like broken limbs and cuts from flying debris.[19]
The tornado is thought to have began in Brixton at 7:15 a.m. where it destroyed outbuildings before it struck Cowes. The Globe Hotel was described as a 'ruin', with its front completely blown in and bedrooms exposed, and the neighbouring cottage was 'similarly demolished'; a Swedish captain who was asleep in the hotel at the time suffered a broken ankle, but the other occupants escaped unharmed. A cottage's iron railing was twisted and a nearby iron lamppost had been snapped, and a girl was lifted 15 ft (4.6 m) into the air on High Street before landing unharmed. Many boats were damaged and lifted, with one fisherman having his boat turned upon him. A yacht named "Palatine" which was half a mile away was strewn with barley and had a brick hit its forecastle deck. The Royal Pier's buildings were levelled, leading to its removal in 1882,[20] and the Royal Pier Hotel suffered significant damage. The police station had all its windows and part of its walls blown in, as well as a two hundredweight of sheet lead lodged in its front parlour. Broken walls, crumbling chimeys and stripped roofs could be seen in all directions, and almost every window in the Catholic Chapel was broken. A slate was driven 6 in (150 mm) deep into a wooden windowsill, and the engine house at the terminus of the Cowes and Newport Railway, a large wooden building, was wrecked, with four heavy carriages blown onto their sides and the water tank smashed upon an engine. Scaffolding and brickwork at the then new Victoria Road Chapel was blown over and several hundred feet of the reservoir's parapet wall was knocked over. In the countryside, many large trees were uprooted, fences and hedges swept away, stacks overturned, barns raised and cottages renered uninhabitable after losing their roofs. Three men were injured at Broadfield's farm after being crushed beneath a collapsing barn, and as the twister continued to tear through the countryside it left a cottage demolished with just a staircase left standing. In Cowes, the damage was estimated to be around £12,000 (equivalent to £1.2 million in 2021).[21]
The tornado then crossed The Solent and made landfall again between Titchfield and Portsmouth in Hampshire about 5 mi (8.0 km) from Cowes. Crops like turnips were torn out of the ground and oak trees at Southwick Park near Fareham were uprooted before the twister caused significant damage to farms and homesteads in Meonstoke, where a man was killed and a boy injured. A farmhouse had all of its windows blown out and a barn was lifted bodily with a man inside it before it was converted into a heap of ruins; the man remarkably escaped. After wreaking havoc in Meonstoke, the tornado continued into the countryside and carried sheaves of wheat 500 ft (150 m) onto a hill as it tore a 100 ft (30 m) wide path through a thick copse, where it continued to uproot trees and underwood. The corners of ricks and cottages were described as being "cut off as if with a knife", iron troughs were carried 300–400 yd (270–370 m), and gates were thrown into adjacent fields after being lifted off their hinges.[21]
During a tornado outbreak on 27 October 1913, an F3 tornado touched down near Cilfynydd and travelled north for 12 mi (19 km) as far as Merthyr. The tornado had a track width of around 200 yd (180 m) and caused extreme damage, with churches and chapels reportedly "razed to the ground" and houses "utterly demolished", as well as six deaths and many injuries, making it the deadliest on record in the UK.[22] One of the people killed was footballer for Ton Pentre F.C. Francis Woolford, who was lifted and thrown against a wall 20 ft (6.1 m) away, fracturing his skull and killing him; another man was killed after being carried over 200 yd (180 m) before being dropped. In several villages, whole streets were reportedly destroyed, with houses unroofed and walls "carried away". In Treharris, the cemetery chapel was destroyed, tombstones torn out of the ground, the congregational chapel unroofed, the post office wrecked and several people injured by falling debris. In Abercynon, the roofs of 13 houses were carried away and a street was almost entirely demolished, with many of the residents being injured. In Clifynydd, houses were unroofed, chimneys torn down, the methodist chapel's roof thrown onto the pastor's neighbouring house, and a shop's corrugated iron roof was torn off and carried a quater mile up the valley. At least 150 families were temporarily homeless and the tornado caused as much as £100,000 in damage, equivalent to £12,429,010 in 2023.[23]
On 24 October 1923, a T3 tornado[9] tore through Solihull, killing one man and badly injuring two others. It was first spotted above some trees in Shirley and soon after made landfall at Sharmans Cross before travelling 2.5 mi (4.0 km) until it dissipated at Elmdon Heath. Three men who were working on a new road took shelter in a barn at Silhill Hall which had its roof lifted before it crashed upon them, killing one of them and badly injuring the other two. Along its 50-yard (46 m) wide path, chimneys and roofs were destroyed, trees uprooted, telegraph wires brought down and walls demolished. A hayrick was lifted from a field onto a road and a wall which bounded the grounds of The Hermitage was demolished.[25]
At 4 p.m. on 14 June 1931, a tornado rated T6 struck east Birmingham, killing one person and badly injuring nine others as it carved a 9 km (5.6 mi) path from Hall Green to Erdington. The tornado began in southeast Birmingham at Hall Green before moving north, following the course of the River Cole and growing wider as it passed through Greet, Sparkhill and Sparkbrook, eventually reaching peak intensity at Small Heath. With an intensity of T6, wind speeds were 259–299 km/h (161–186 mph) as the track widended to 800 m (2,600 ft). A 61-year-old woman was killed when a brick wall which she was sheltered against collapsed upon her. Greenhouses at Small Heath Park were wrecked and hundreds of trees uprooted as hundreds of children took shelter in the park's refreshment room, which was luckily unharmed by the twister. Hundreds of houses in Small Heath were unroofed, with many losing their top floor, before the twister turned northeast to hit Bordesley Green and Washwood Heath, where large trees were uprooted, houses unroofed and cars overturned. The sky was 'filled with a cloud of corrugated iron sheets, slates and chimney pots' in Washwood Heath, and the window which a witness watched from was sucked out as the tornado passed. As it approached Erdington the twister continued to lose strength, narrowing as it continued to uproot trees before dissipating soon after.[26]
On 8 December 1954, a T7 tornado swept through West London, where it damaged many houses and caused numerous injuries. It first hit Chiswick, where houses were damaged on Thames Road, Oxford Gardens and Strand-on-the-Green, before the roof collapsed at the Britvic Works causing boxes of glass bottles to be thrown around, causing six people to be taken to Brentford Hospital. It then hit Gunnersbury station causing significant damage, including a collecting hut being blown away and the station's iron roof collapsing, burying 15 people, eight of whom were taken to West Middlesex Hospital. Others outside the station were knocked unconscious after being hit by flying bricks. The damage caused the station to close for rebuilding, and the railway line was blocked. A garage's roof was blown onto a bowling green on Chiswick High Road before the tornado crossed the Gunnersbury Triangle and hit the Royal Standard Laundry, causing its 80 ft (24 m) high chimney to collapse and crash through the roof. The tornado went on to South Acton, where it caused damage to the majority of houses on Antrobus Road, Bollo Lane, Cunnington Street, Ivy Crescent, Kingswood Road, Montgomery Road, Rothschild Road and Temple Road. On Rothschild Road, five houses and a factory were seriously damaged; on Antrobus Road, the entire top floor of a detatched house was blown away; and at least three people were injured. A children's playground on Southfield Road was destroyed, and a lead factory on Mansell Road was completely wrecked. A man was slightly injured on Birkbeck Grove when a chimney crashed through his roof, and properties in Acton Vale suffered significant damage, including a house being split in half and the top floor of another being demolished. A shop was almost entirely destroyed, a whole floor collapsed in the Central Middlesex Hospital and many trees in Acton Park were lost. Houses were damaged in Muirfield and the East Acton Estate, a bus was slightly lifted on Du Cane Road, a shop was seriously damaged on Erconwald Street and a lorry was crushed by bricks, injuring two men. The tornado regained some force as it crossed Wormwood Scrubs before blocking railway lines with debris at Willesden Junction and injuring five people. 300 houses were damaged in the area south of King Edward VII Park and seven people were taken to hospital before the tornado struck near Willesden Green station, where two tons of brickwork fell from a three storey building and six more were injured. Despite the widespread destruction and intensity of the tornado, no one was killed and only around 30 people were kept in hospital.[27]
On 21 September 1982, Bicester was struck by a T6 tornado associated with ex-tropical storm Debby. The 1.2 km (0.75 mi) and up to 100 m (330 ft) wide track began 700 m (2,300 ft) northeast of the town centre, with the first damage taking place in a residential area where eight properties lost roof tiles and tree branches were snapped. Two industrial estates followed, where a brick wall in the Launton Industrial Estate fell upon a sheltering family who recieved treatment for minor injuries. An Oxfam warehouse's roof was lifted, its leeward wall bowed outwards by 13 in (330 mm) and its windward corner collapsed, with 60 staff members being evacuated. The adjacent warehouse only lost some of its guttering whilst two smaller buildings opposite them suffered extensive damage, including both of their roofs being lifted by 26 in (660 mm) and one of their roofs being stripped of its felt. Another building had one of its windows sucked out, a heavy lorry trailer was lifted and carried over a fence and an engineering workshop's steel-girder roof was lifted to an adjacent building's higher roof before being thrown against another building. Several large steel-framed aluminium doors were warped, one of which was carried across the road before striking a factory's roof and landing in a field. A 2 m (6 ft 7 in) high brick wall and concrete posts holding a boundary fence were pushed over, the former crushing a parked car. After the twister wreaked havoc at Launton Industrial Estate it moved on to Telford Road Estate, where it caused damage limited to minor roof damage and wooden sheds being "blown about".[28]
1989 Great Moulton-Wacton-Long Stratton tornado[edit]
On 14 December 1989, a tornado hit Long Stratton at 13:40 GMT where it damaged as many as 100 buildings, about 50 of them seriously, including a workshop which had its roof ripped off and front wall destroyed. Other damage included toppled chimneys, broken windows, roof tiles removed, advertising signs and cables torn down and dozens of damaged cars. An elderly woman suffered head and leg injuries after she was blown over and struck by flying debris. Other damage was reported in the villages of Wacton and Great Moulton, suggesting the tornado had a track of at least 5 km (3.1 mi). Near Wacton, two greenhouses and the walls of an under construction farmhouse were demolished, and two barns were damaged with their concrete beams thrown to the ground, one of which landed on a caravan. An ash tree was uprooted and felled in Great Moulton. The tornado, which was rated as T4, is thought to have formed sometime between 13:30 and 13:40 before it travelled through Great Moulton and Wacton before reaching Long Stratton at 13:40.[29]
On 7 January 1998, a waterspout made landfall at 23:39 GMT on the western side of Selsey Bill in West Sussex. The tornado moved eastwards through the town of Selsey, where it caused £5-10 million in damage to around 1000 properties.[30] The tornado destroyed six caravans and an amusement arcade at Bunn Leisure and destroyed two garages and two brick walls on Saddle Lane. Medmerry County Primary School suffered significant damage and the chainlink fencing around the Crablands tennis courts were blown over. The majority of houses on Gainsborough Drive, Orpen Place and Romney Garth were damaged and a roof was torn off a block of four garage units, as well as eight garages being demolished. Eight garages on Elm Tree Close were damaged, with the roof flipped into neigbouring gardens, and three 8 ft (2.4 m) wooden stakes were hurled through the front wall of a house on The Close with such force that a large radiator held by three brackets was removed from the wall. A 40 ft (12 m) conifer tree with roots buried a metre under the concrete pavement was uprooted, and a total of 558 calls were made to emergency services, of which 409 were from different properties. The tornado was rated T3 and had a maximum width of 900 m (3,000 ft).[31]
On 28 October 2004 at around 15:25, a T2 tornado[12] struck Corfe Castle whilst a family were walking to the railway station. The top of a large pine tree was torn off and fell onto the three of them, killing 57-year-old Pamela Hudson and injuring her husband. She was the first person to be killed by a tornado in the UK since the 1913 Glamorgan tornado.[32] The tornado also damaged roofs and tore down power lines, leaving the village without electricity.[33]
On 28 July 2005 at around 14:30, a tornado struck Birmingham and had a track length of 11.7 kilometres (7.3 mi) from Kings Heath to Erdington. The tornado was rated T5/6 (EF2) on the TORRO scale and had a maximum track width of 500 m (1,600 ft).[34] The tornado began south of the city center, where it caused sporadic roof and tree damage around the M42 motorway, and progressed to Kings Heath where the first significant damage occurred. A supermarket's windows were broken and a roof was partially displaced there before the twister continued, paralleling Ladypool Road. It then struck Sparkbrook, where dozens of buildings were unroofed, small trucks tipped over and small cars flipped and rolled.[35]Christ Church was badly damaged and was subsequently demolished,[36]St Agatha's Church was slightly damaged, and the adjacent Ladypool Primary School suffered extensive damage, with its distinctive 30 m (98 ft) Martin & Chamberlain tower blowing over and crashing through the building's roof.[37] Damage in this area was rated EF2 and maximum three-second winds were estimated to be 50–60 m/s (110–130 mph; 180–220 km/h). After the tornado had passed Sparkbrook it hit an industrial area, removing or damaging numerous metal and corrugated asbestos roofs before it weakened as it crossed the M6 motorway. Roughly 300 buildings were damaged and 39 people injured, three seriously, in the most intense tornado in the area since 1931.[35] It caused £40 million of damage, equivalent to £75 million in 2023, as it passed 4,400 homes and 617 businesses.[38]
A T5 tornado struck Kensal Rise in north west London on 7 December 2006. Six people were injured, one seriously, and over 100 homes were damaged,[39] 34 of which were initially surveyed as uninhabitable.[40]
During Storm Ciarán, a T6 tornado hit Jersey causing widespread damage across its 8 km (5.0 mi) path, which had a maxiumum width of 550 m (1,800 ft). It traversed the entire island, making landfall late on 1 November 2023 at St Clement and exiting around Fliquet not long after midnight. TORRO determined the tornado to be stronger than the 2005 Birmingham tornado, and was likely the strongest since the 1954 Gunnersbury tornado.[41] A beachside home in St Clement suffered damage to the upper floor, lost its roof and had walls felled, indicating T5. At FB Fields, damage to the Geoff Reed Table Tennis Centre, including partial roof loss and 100 kg (220 lb) wooden beams being carried 150 m (490 ft) across the playing field, indicated T6. Further damage in the area which indicated T5 included a folded lamppost, a recycling bank rolled 40 m (130 ft) and onto a car, and a collapsed internal wall. At the Rue des Près Trading Estate in St Saviour, warehouses suffered substantial damage (one building had its roof and courses of bricks missing - indicating T5) with many buildings partially or totally losing their roofs. Metal sheeting from the warehouses was found in many locations along the track up to 1.4 km (0.87 mi) away. Near Grouville F.C., the southern end of a single storey property collapsed, with a concrete lump from it travelling 35 m (115 ft) and through the roof of another house, indicating T6. Part of a flat roof from this area landed in tennis courts 150 m (490 ft) away and a car was found upright 25 m (82 ft) away from where it was parked, having landed on its roof at some point, both indicating T4. A property on Rue Saint Julien suffered T3-5 damage, including flattened trees, a folded communications mast, roof damage and roof loss, collapsed and damaged walls, damaged chimneys, blown in windows and damage to internal walls. At Beuvelande Campsite, caravans were destroyed and one had its chassis displaced 40 m (130 ft) and its front cabin found 80 m (260 ft) away. Northeast of the campsite, several telegraph poles were snapped whilst one had been pulled out of the ground and landed 10 m (33 ft) away with no sign of disturbance to the ground, indicating T5. In Fliquet, three terraced cottages built in 1843 had their roofs torn off, with a flat roof from an extension to one of the cottages being found 100 m (330 ft) away. Patio doors from the property penetrated a garage door 60 m (200 ft) away and severely dented the car inside, with holes in the roofs of the property here and render damaged by penetrating debris, indicating T5-6. At St Catherine's Woods, a car which had its handbrake on was lifted from a parking area and ended up 20 m (66 ft) away down a slope, indicating T4. There were numerous incidents of penetrating debris along the whole track, including twigs embedding into render and fragments of tiles penetrating building render, wooden sleepers and trees, indicating T6.[42]
A T5 tornado hit parts of Tameside in Greater Manchester, namely Dukinfield, Stalybridge and Mossley, during the late evening of 27 December 2023 amid Storm Gerrit.[44] The town of Stalybridge was most affected, with around 100 homes being damaged, two houses' roofs torn off, many trees uprooted, chimneys brought down and numerous cars suffering damage, including a piece of slate becoming lodged in a vehicle. Three days after the tornado, a spokesperson for Tameside council said that 76 dangerous building act notices has been issued following the twister, with 32 households unable to return to their homes.[45]
Second strongest tornado of the outbreak, caused considerable damage in the village of Stoneleigh. 20 large static caravans were blown over and destroyed.[48]
This tornado, which started a kilometre northwest of the Timsbury tornado, remained relatively weak for 5 km (3.1 mi) and the only damage found here consisted of felled trees. Once the tornado reached Up Somborne the intensity increased, with empty beehives destroyed, trees snapped, a glasshouse destroyed, a polytunnel lifted and twisted with bad roof damage, an orchard wrecked and chicken coops destroyed at a horticultural business' property. Trees were felled and telegraph poles snapped near to this property, cutting the village off from internet and phone services, and a nearby farm had lost over 50 trees. The tornado continued to Bransbury where roofs lost tiles and a shed was unroofed before it hit Longparish, where it brought down 11kV powerlines and overturned a fisherman's hut. The tornado continued to Hurstbourne Priors and is though to have ended near St Mary's Hill.[51]
After a waterspout made landfall, many trees were felled and twisted on Barton Common before the tornado swept through a farm. At this farm, metal sheeting was removed from multiple barns, one of which suffered the collapse of its western brick wall, wooden rafters were lifted, a telegraph pole snapped, a brick wall toppled, and debris scattered in a field. A dog kennel also came into contact with a gas line, causing a propane tank to explode. The tornado continued to Ashley, where it deroofed two garage blocks, removed roof tiles and felled trees. Greenhouses and polytunnels at Brockhill Nurseries were severely damaged, with glass scattered around, a tunnel brought down, metal frames twisted and trees felled. Four power lines near the nursery were brought down and a metal shed door had a deep gouge cut through it by a coil from the power lines. Damage to trees continued into the New Forest and the tornado is thought to have ended at 50°51′N1°35′W / 50.85°N 1.59°W / 50.85; -1.59.[51][52]
Struck Marwell Zoo car park, but did not damage the zoo itself.[53] Many trees were damaged and felled, with one falling onto and partially demolishing an outbuilding. Two equestrian properties suffered considerable damage, one of which had a block of four stables lifted and thrown through its riding arena; none of the horses in the stables at the time were injured.[54]
