Monday, November 23, 2009

Wild Crazy unpredictable weather storm across Britain.Tornado leaves trail of destruction


A resident begins repairing roof damage caused by the mini-cyclone

Andy Woodward surveys the damage to his garage in Dennis Close, Littleover, following a mini tornado
A tornado left a trail of devastation today after tearing through a suburb as extreme weather continued to sweep across Britain.

The mini-cyclone destroyed a garage, damaged trees and ripped off roof tiles when it struck Littleover, in Derby, shortly before 2pm.

Residents of the streets badly hit by the freak winds described a ‘dusty cloud’ that turned the sky black and sent wheelie bins flying through the air into cars.

One told how it was like ‘driving into a washing machine’ at the height of the storm. Others described the sky turning black.

Richard Bryan said: ‘I thought I'd driven into a washing machine - a wall of water and wind just hit the car with terrific force and almost stopped it.

‘I got the wipers on full pelt and, when the window cleared, all I could see were three dustbins. The wind picked them up and they actually flew into the air. One of them came straight towards the car but just passed over the top.’
Stelios Panteli, 43, was knocked over in the sudden storm. He said: ‘I was in the kitchen when I heard the front door blow open. I went to close it, but I was knocked backwards into the kitchen.

‘When I went outside I saw a wheelie bin had smashed the back window of a lady's car.

‘It was all over in about 15 seconds, but it was 15 seconds of chaos. It looked like a dusty cloud swirling around at the front of the house and then it disappeared. It's just very lucky that no one was hurt.’
Andy Woodward, 28, returned from a shopping trip to find the garage on the side of his mother's house had been battered.

He said: ‘The garage is hanging off at 45 degrees. I think it was because it was a bit more exposed, but you don't expect winds to knock a garage down.

'When I got back there were fences down and roof tiles strewn about. It was absolute mayhem.’

The emergency services inspected nearby buildings to check they were safe.

Bryon Chalcraft, from the Met Office, said more tornadoes could hit the country over the next three days.

He said: ‘Heavy showers, strong winds and thunder storms were all present in the Derbyshire area. They could well have combined to create the right conditions for a tornado.

'When strong up-draughts meet down-draughts, circulations of air can form and when they drop to ground level they can form a tornado.

'When you get a strong cold front at this time of year, as we have moving across the country from the east, there is always a small chance of a tornado developing.’

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