Britain is the tornado capital of the world - yes, really!

Updated
Britain is the tornado capital of the year - yes, really!
Britain is the tornado capital of the year - yes, really!

Rex


We would all agree that this summer has been a wet and windy washout.

But even so, it's hard to believe that Britain is the tornado capital of the world.

However, a Met Office spokesman told The Sun that, although UK twisters are fairly weak, we have more of them than anywhere else on the planet.

He told the newspaper: "You see more tornados in the UK for the surface area than in any other part of the world - but they're at best 50 metres across.

"In the US they can be one kilometre and wipe out whole towns."

Yesterday a string of tornados swept across the South West and were spotted in the Severn Estuary before moving across Clevedon in Somerset.

The Daily Echo reports that, yesterday, a mini-tornado in the New Forest ripped off a conservatory roof and flung it into a house three doors down the street. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Back in June, a tornado sucked a caravan into the air and bounced it through a field in Long Sutton, Lincs.

David Sinclair, who was inside the caravan at the time, told The Daily Mail: "It felt like I was a tennis ball in a tumble drier as I smashed against the walls, into cupboards and appliances. When it eventually came to a halt I was pretty badly hurt. I was wedged in and had the fridge on top of me."

He was kept in hospital overnight but was discharged, with severe bruising, the following day.

Experts at the Met Office say that tornadoes form when the weather is unstable and showery - and we've had plenty of that over the last few months.

Click on the image below to see England's sky at night...

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