In a spin Man spots ‘tornado’ above county
ATORNADO was spotted spiralling over the Cotswold countryside on Monday morning. These stunning pictures show the tornado spinning over Gloucestershire at first light on Easter Monday.
They were taken by Ben Wakerley, who watched the wind funnel in the distance for around 15 minutes. Ben was at his house near Cooper’s Hill, which is famous for the cheese rolling, when he saw it on the horizon.
He said: “I spotted it at 8.15am and it just disappeared around 8.45am. I’ve heard that we get quite a few tornadoes, but have never seen one before. I think it was somewhere over Birdlip.”
Tornadoes are funnels of wind normally formed from thunderstorms and are usually found in central America. Officially the spinning vortex needs to touch the ground to be classed as a true tornado and once this happens they usually travel across land.
The UK has around 30 tornadoes a year but they are usually small and don’t have much impact. However, if they do pass over built-up areas they can cause considerable damage and even injuries from fallen debris.
In 2005, a tornado injured 19 people and caused an estimated £40 million of damage in just over ten minutes after striking Birmingham and tearing up more than 1,000 trees.
On November 23, 1981, a cold front across England and Wales resulted in a record-breaking 105 short-lived and weak tornadoes.
The Met Office website says people in the UK have little to worry about. It reads: “Some areas prone to tornado outbreaks, such as central USA, have tornado warning procedures, shelters and educational programmes with the aim of minimising risk to life.
“The UK has little need of tornado warnings; however, the Met Office actively works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the USA to improve the science of tornado forecasts and to improve warnings.”
I’ve heard that we get quite a few tornadoes, but have never seen one before Ben Wakerley