Tornado throws tent - and three children - 30ft across camping field

Tornado throws tent and three children 30ft in air in Cumbria

Three children were thrown 30ft through the air when their tent was picked up by a tornado.

The tent was lifted 10ft high by the mini tornado, thought to have been whipped up by the tail end of Hurricane Bertha.

Parents Steve and Gail Gardner were enjoying a week's camping trip in Ambleside, Cumbria, when the terrifying incident occurred.

Children Oliver, 10, Kate, eight, and Lily, two, were found lying in a heap battered and bruised before being rushed to hospital.

Steve, of Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, told The Sun: "It was mayhem. I could just see this big spiral on the grass, it looked like a tornado.

"The next thing I knew it just picked up the tent. It is just a vision that goes over and over in your mind.

"The entire thing spun over itself high in the air, unbelievably fast, it blew around 30 feet before the lower section crashed into a barb wire fence.

"Gail screamed, I screamed and bounded over the fence towards it all, it was a complete twisted wreck, almost like a plane crash, with our things lying everywhere."

Steve added that they had first thought Oliver was paralysed as he wasn't moving, and Kate's eyes were open but she didn't seem to be conscious. "We thought she was dead." he said. "It was just horrendous."

The children are treated at Lancaster Hospital, with Lily being kept in for three days, but all are now recovering after suffering minor injuries.

According to the Mirror, Steve added: "The kids are all alive and hopefully recovering fully. When we went to gather what was left of our gear, most of it was a write-off.

"Oliver has written off camping again, but Kate's happy to go again, in good weather.

"It's a holiday we'd like to forget but one that I think will stay with us all for some time yet."