
Parts of the UK have been issued with a tornado warning, with areas between Bristol and London considered most at risk.
Powerful Storm Eowyn is set to impact all parts of the UK tomorrow and Ireland is bracing itself for 125mph winds.
The UK on average gets between 30-50 tornados a year and sees more of them than any country in the world relative to its landmass.
But what about the most severe? Metro.co.uk takes a look at the UK’s most historic tornados.
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London tornado of 1091
The London tornado of 1091 is the earliest recorded in England and happened on October 17.
On the modern day TORRO scale, the tornado measured a T8 which is big because the strongest tornado is classed as T11.
This makes it one of the strongest tornadoes on record in the country, alongside the 1666 Lincolnshire tornado.
Out of a population of 18,000 at the time, there were two deaths recorded.
The tornado is mentioned in a chronicle by William of Malmesbury who described it as ‘a great spectacle for those watching from afar, but a terrifying experience for those standing near’.
UK’s most powerful tornado in 1666
While the 1091 tornado is the earliest on record for the UK, it would be another 575 years before we’d welcome another one as powerful.
Lincolnshire was hit by 213mph winds on October 23, 1666. The 200-metre wide tornado tore through the villages of Welbourne, Willingore, Navenby and Boothby Graffoe, leaving death and destruction in its wake.
Records written by Thomas Short in 1749 said one boy was killed in Welbourne, while two children died when their house was destroyed in Willingore.
According to The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO), he wrote: ‘Keeping its course to the next town (Boothby Graffoe), where it dashed the church steeple in pieces, furiously rent the church itself, both stone and timber work, left little of either standing, only the body of the steeple.’
West London tornado 1954
A storm that originated in Ireland on December 7, 1954, turned into a tornado when it crossed the River Thames.
It impacted areas in west London including Bushy Park where many trees were uprooted.
Cottages were also damaged in Ham Common and it hit Richmond Hill but Richmond town centre escaped damage.
Many roads around Kew and Ham were left flooded because the River Thames rose by an unusual amount.
Five houses were damaged in Thames Road, and others in Strand on the Green and Oxford Gardens.
Six people were taken to Brentford Hospital with cuts from flying glass and the tornado later hit Gunnersbury station, Acton and Willesden.
It was described as like ‘something from the blitz’.
2006 London tornado
The 2006 London tornado was caused by a line of thunderstorms that moved over the capital city on December 7.
It was measured as a T5 on the TORROR scale – the equivalent to 160mph – and much of the UK was under the influence of a strong Atlantic low pressure system.
A resident impacted at the time called Tim Klotz, said: ‘It was like some sort of cyclone’.
‘I was in an attic room … there was heavy rain and sleet, and then the wind just really changed,’ he said.
‘I looked up through a skylight, and debris was falling through the air. I heard what seemed like large clay dominoes falling, which I think were roof tiles.’
Several hundred people across London were displaced from their homes temporarily until they were declared safe again.
Overall, six people were left injured and a total of 29 homes were declared unfit for habitation.
Other tornados across the UK
A series of severe thunderstorms in October 1913 caused a series of tornadoes across Wales and the south west of England.
A total of three people were killed and damage to property was estimated to be around £2.5 million in today’s money.
The year of 1981 is considered the largest on record for a tornado outbreak in UK history.
104 tornados touched down across Wales and central, northern and eastern England and spanned a period of five hours and 26 minutes.
These tornados were very weak so did not cause any fatalities but hundreds of homes were left damaged.
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