WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED A TORNADO! BACK TO WEATHER-BLOG MENU New! Fine Art Prints & digital images for sale- Welsh Weather & Dyfi Valley landscapes Slide-Library - Click HERE

Tornadoes are commoner in the UK than you might think, with an average of 33 confirmed cases per year. We suspect a lot more go unseen in remote areas. The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (or TORRO for short) is a body with membership drawn from academia, professional meteorologists and the amateur sector. It is responsible for logging and investigating tornadic events. Any reports of unusual wind damage are followed up as soon as possible by site investigations which can normally determine whether the event that caused the damage was indeed a tornado. I belong to TORRO and as I am based in the heart of Wales I am available for site investigations across Powys, Ceredigion and Gwynedd. Other members live in North and South Wales and are similarly available. WHAT IS A TORNADO? A tornado is a violently-rotating column of air which has descended from the clouds overhead and is in contact with the ground. A funnel-cloud is a violently-rotating column of air that has not touched the ground, although if it does it is immediately reclassified as a tornado. The windspeeds within UK tornadoes are commonly in the 70-100mph range but may be 150mph or more and it is these strong tornadoes that are potentially capable of significant destruction to life and property. Tornadoes are primarily associated with thunderstorm clouds and with active weather-fronts and can occur at any time of the year. TORNADOES IN THE UK Tornadoes are not as rare in the UK as you might think. However, generally they are less violent than those that occur in the Great Plains of the USA (so-called Tornado Alley). Not that is is always the case, however. A violent tornado which tracked up a valley in South Wales in October 1913 killed three people and injured scores more with property damage equivalent to millions of pounds by today's standards. The largest tornado outbreak that has been recorded in Britain is also the largest tornado outbreak known anywhere in Europe, and it happened on November 21, 1981. On that single day, a staggering 105 tornadoes touched down in just five and a quarter hours! Almost every county in a triangular area from Gwynedd to Humberside to Essex was hit by at least one tornado, while Norfolk was hit by at least 13. Luckily, most of the tornadoes were short-lived and also weak (the strongest was around T5 on the TORRO Tornado Scale) and no deaths occurred. WAS IT A TORNADO OR NOT?? Tornadoes are not always easily visible as in the American movie, "Twister". They may occur during the night, or may be concealed by torrential rain. However, they, and the damage that they do, have a few distinctive features: * they tend to occur when the weather is stormy - including thunder- and hail-storms; * their passing is often described as being accompanied by a noise like a loud waterfall or express-train going by; * the damage tends to be restricted to a narrow path, which may persist for several miles; * within the path, trees may be snapped in two and roofs stripped of slates, while to either side everything may look untouched; * there is often evidence for things being lifted and carried some distance from where they blew away. REPORT YOUR EXPERIENCE! If you think you may have experienced a tornado in your area, visit the TORRO website at: http://www.torro.org.uk/ where you can report it for follow-up, or if you prefer, contact me by email HERE. I can pass on the information, together with your contact details, to TORRO or if the event was in Powys, Ceredigion or Gwynedd I can arrange to investigate your report on behalf of TORRO. AND FINALLY.... Tornadoes are potentially very dangerous, although most that occur in the UK are not as violent as the ones that happen every year in the Great Plains of the USA. This does not mean that the danger should be underestimated as the airborne debris that accompanies even a tornado on the lower end of the intensity scale can be lethal if you are caught out in the open. Seek a strong shelter immediately if you think there is a tornado in the vicinity! A car offers no protection, unless you can drive out of the storm's path quickly. Finally, contrary to what the media may tell you, there is no such thing as a mini-tornado. A tornado is a tornado, plain and simple!

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