Head-spinning weather act sees twister turn heads in rural town

A MINI-TORNADO shocked residents in a Northumberland town yesterday.

The twister was seen in the sky high above Amble at around 12.15pm yesterday – but it didn’t last very long.

Tom Stewart, of Widdrington, was among those who saw it and took pictures.

He said: “I was a few miles away, near Broomhill, when I saw this twister. It was quite bizarre, like something out of one of those twister movies.

“It was at quite some height above Amble, towards the coast, and could be seen from miles away.

“I watched it for three or four minutes and then it just dispersed.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

A tornado, sometimes called a whirlwind, is a rapidly rotating column of air in a cylindrical or funnel shape.

Some only last a few seconds, causing little damage, but some last for hours and can be destructive and violent.

Most twisters have wind speeds less than 110 miles per hour and travel a few miles before disappearing.

The most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 300 miles an hour and stay on the ground for dozens of miles.

The United States has the most tornadoes of any country. More than a 1,000 are reported on the continent every year.