A tornado swept through Aldershot on Friday, causing “lots of damage” to properties in south west England.
Dramatic footage shows a sudden blast of wind blow debris into the air, while pictures show fallen trees and roof tiles scattered across roads in the Hampshire area.
The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) said it tracked the column of air moving about 1.2 miles (2km) through the Aldershot area shortly after 12:00pm. According to BBC South Weather, the rare weather event caused “lots of damage” to property.
There are no reported injuries, Rushmoor Borough Council said, while the authority urged residents to call emergency services if they saw damaged trees they believed were dangerous.
Thunder and lightning was seen across much of the region around the time the tornado was sweeping across Aldershot.
Paul Knightley, head of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation, confirmed it was a tornado. He told the BBC: “The formation of tornadoes is still the subject of intensive research, and their exact mechanisms are yet to be understood.
“In a broad sense, though, pre-existing rotation in the lower atmosphere can be stretched by the strong upwards-moving air in a thunderstorm, and focused into a tornado. This seems likely to have been what happened today.”
The rare weather event comes as the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for rain and thunderstorms this weekend.
A Met Office spokesman said: “Showers and thunderstorms are expected to merge into broader areas of heavy rain across parts of Wales, central and southern England during Sunday.
“There is a small chance that some rural communities will temporarily become cut off by flooded roads.
“Homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings.
“There is a small chance of power cuts and loss of other services to some homes and businesses.
“Spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some temporary road closures.”
According to the Met, the risk of thunderstorms will persists into Saturday, and there with be potentially longer spells of heavy rain along with a continued risk of hail and lightning accompanying the most intense storms.
The worst storms are likely to batter parts of the Midlands, southern England and east Wales during Saturday afternoon and evening, the forecaster said.
Lightning strikes are expected to cause damage to buildings and short term losses of power, while spells of heavy rain and “large hail” could lead to travel disruption.
There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, the forecaster added, with floodwater, lightning strikes, hail and strong winds potentially causing structural damage.
Flooding is also likely to leading to road closures, making it possible that some communities could be cut off. Delays and cancellations to trains services are also expected, along with power cuts.
The stormy weather follows a warm, dry spell as temperatures reached 25°C in Inverness on Wednesday and highs of 26 are expected on Thursday, according to the forecaster.
Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: “We are being spoiled by almost summer’s last hurrah, but there’s a bit of a change coming down the line as we move our way through towards Friday, and especially the weekend.”