A bishop has condemned the theft of a memorial to two children killed by an IRA bomb as "senseless vandalism".

More localised flooding could hit parts of southern and eastern England and Wales as another band of heavy rain sweeps in, the Environment Agency has warned.

Swirling vortex causes alarm in Oxfordshire but UK is no stranger to the phenomenon. Michael McCarthy reports

Britain could be braced for more thunder and lightning after a “special” type of storm, which started in Wiltshire, swept across the country yesterday, bringing with it a tornado to some areas.

A tornado tore through a city north-east of Tokyo yesterday, killing a 14-year-old boy, injuring dozens of others and destroying scores of houses.

A tornado tore through an area just northeast of the Japanese capital  today, injuring at least 30 people, destroying dozens of homes and leaving thousands more without electricity.

The future of the ubiquitous windsurfer in the Olympic games sailing competitions will be decided at a vote in Italy on Saturday.

Most of the UK faced heavy showers today - but this month's deluge of rain will not be enough to avert a drought across parts of the country.

High winds have torn through a town, blowing the roof from one home and damaging others in what residents have described as a "mini tornado".

British Olympic sailor Leigh McMillan swept into the lead on the third day of the Extreme Sailing Series regatta in Qingdao and Britain’s reigning world match racing champion, Ian Williams, pulled back up to third overall going into the final day.

A spate of tornadoes tore through parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa yesterday, churning through Wichita and other areas while causing property damage but no immediate reports of deaths or widespread injuries.

Tornadoes hit Texas yesterday, destroying a wing of a nursing home, peeling roofs from dozens of homes and sending lorry trailers into the air.

A powerful storm with typhoon-strength winds and heavy rain halted air and train traffic in Tokyo and killed four people around the country, officials said.

The name Areias do Seixo roughly translates as "pebble beach", and the property plays to its rugged, coastal location with a motif of purity and nature. But Areias do Seixo's curveball is that it is a modernist glass and concrete construction on a protected patch of Portugal's Costa de Prata ("silver coast"), between Lisbon and Porto.