‘Tornado’ tears through UK as Met Office issues severe wind warning

The ‘tornado’ left debris scattered across streets in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire

A “potential” tornado battered a UK town and flipped a caravan on its side on Monday, as the Met Office warned of severe winds across much of the country.

The wind damaged fences and left debris scattered across streets in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, just before 7.45am.

Resident Steven Hemming said his father’s caravan was “completely tipped over” and the strong winds had destroyed neighbour’s windows.

The ‘tornado’ flipped a caravan on its side as the Met Office warned of severe winds across the country (StokeonTrentLive/BPM)

Resident Steven Hemming said his father’s caravan was knocked over in the bad weather (PA)

“It’s destroyed a lot of cars, as in write-offs, and people’s living room windows have gone through. The caravan just completely tipped over with the intense burst – it was instantaneous,” he told the BBC.

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A second apparent tornado swept through the West Bridgford area of Nottingham at about 7.30am, leaving roads strewn with tiles after garages and outbuildings were damaged.

The Met Office said it was not possible to verify if the strong wind in Staffordshire was a tornado, adding that the winds forecast this morning “had some potential” to create them.

A damaged vehicle is towed away from St Gile's Road in Knutton, North Staffordshire (PA)

Stephen Dixon, Met Office spokesperson, said: “Tornadoes do happen in the UK and they’re generally short-lived in nature, but around 30 a year are reported on average.”

“Today there have been some reports of some particularly impactful winds. The fronts that were moving southwards this morning had some potential for some short-lived tornadoes within them, but we would need to assess the impact.”

The Met Office website defines a tornado as a “rapidly rotating column of air that reaches the base of a storm cloud and the Earth’s surface”.

The forecaster has warned that windy conditions are likely to cause delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport as well as a possible short-term loss of power.

Missing tiles from a roof on St Gile’s Road in Knutton, Staffordshire, where high winds caused damage in the early hours of the morning (PA)

It also advised those looking to travel on Monday to check road conditions if driving or public transport timetables and amending plans if necessary. Those on the coast should be aware of large waves and take care if walking near cliffs, the forecaster said.

Bridges, parks and National Trust sites across the UK were forced to close due to the windy conditions. The M48 Severn Bridge was closed in the early hours of Monday morning in both directions as a result of the high winds, with road users advised to use the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge as an alternative route.

In Yorkshire, the Humber Bridge was forced to close to wind-vulnerable vehicles including motorhomes, cars with roof boxes, motorcycles and high-sided heavy goods vehicles.

Emergency service workers inspect the roof a property in Knutton, North Staffordshire (PA)

Parks were shut across London including sections of Hampstead Heath, West Ham Park and playgrounds in Regents Park, Greenwich Park and Hyde Park.

Kew Gardens, also in London, announced on social media that it would not be opening on Monday due to “adverse weather conditions”.

Tourist attractions including parts of Dover Castle and Ainsdale Beach in Southport were also forced to close.

The Met Office issued a yellow warning for wind at 6.25am on Monday which covers the whole of Northern Ireland, Wales and England as far north as Cumbria until 10pm the same day.

Gusts of up to 45mph are expected inland and exposed coastal areas could see winds of up to 55mph with heavy rain showers.