O Tornado

Wild weather: floods, gales and the terrifying sight of a tornado in London

· Winds of 110mph cause widespread damage
· Trains delayed and planes cancelled due to storms

Sandra Laville
Friday December 8, 2006
The Guardian

Just before 11am in a fashionable part of north London, Caroline Phillips, a freelance writer, thought the apocalypse had come. Sitting at the front window of her home writing about the benefits of complementary therapy, she looked up to see the sky turn black. A grey tornado, taller than a house, spewing debris and roaring like a jet, was heading straight for her.

"I dived under my desk and started screaming hysterically," she said. "I had my arms over my head.
Roofs were ripped off cars, dustbins took to the air and the facades of houses crumbled to expose the insides of children's bedrooms, as an 1,800ft tornado, gusting to 110mph, tore through the area.

The tornado came amid wild weather across much of Britain yesterday. More than 60 flights out of Heathrow airport were cancelled, trains were delayed in the south of England after flooding between Eastleigh and Fareham in Hampshire, P&O ferry services between Dover and Calais were cancelled and huge seas raged off the Welsh coast in force 11 storms.

A lifeboat crew had to be winched to safety near Seaford in Sussex after getting into trouble as they tried to anchor a barge which had broken from its moorings in force 10 gales. The crew were airlifted to shore but the barge smashed into cliffs at Seaford Head.

The weather reached its climax when the tornado struck the grid of tree-lined avenues - Crediton Road, Chamberlayne Road and Whitmore Gardens - in Kensal Rise, north London wreaking havoc in just 10 seconds. It was closely followed by hail storms and torrential rain. Six people were injured and up to 150 houses were damaged in the tornado, which came out of Atlantic thunderstorms blowing north east from Cornwall on 60mph gusts of wind.

Nathan Sweeney, from Crediton Road, said he was in his bedroom when the tornado hit. "There was a roar that sounded like an aeroplane, then everything went dark and my windows blew in," he said. "Out the back or our house all the gardens are now one, all the fences have gone.

One man was taken to hospital after being struck in the head by the debris which was flung from the tornado as it spread.

Fire crews from across London were sent to the scene, and police evacuated families from the streets. Miko Adam, 33, was helped from his home on Whitmore Gardens. "I was in my attic and crawled under the bed because I thought the roof was going to come down," he said. "The foundations were moving. It seemed we were being wrenched from the ground."

Hundreds of families were left without shelter in the aftermath of the tornado and the London Fire Brigade warned that residents would not be allowed to return to their homes until a full assessment of the structural damage had been made.

Some sought refuge with friends while others took up offers of help from Brent Council, who set up a centre for people in a church, with food and drink offered.

As the clean-up began last night, the Association of British Insurers said it was too early to estimate the cost of the damage. But it is estimated it could run into millions of pounds. A spokesman said damage caused to homes and businesses would be covered by buildings insurance.

There were some who were reaping the benefit of the weather last night. Within an hour of the tornado striking, dozens of glaziers' vans turned up on the streets around Kensal Rise. Glazier Colin Black said he received more than 30 calls in the minutes after the wind died down yesterday and the appeals for replacement windows were still coming in last night.

Although the tornado appeared freakish, the Tornado and Storm Research Centre said the UK has the highest number of reported tornadoes for its land area of any country in the world. Dr Terence Meaden of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation said about 70 tornadoes were reported across the UK in 2004 and 2005, with 40 this year.

Backstory

Tornadoes are the result of warm and cold winds travelling at different speeds and in different directions in storm conditions, creating a build-up of energy like a pressure cooker. The weather fronts can come together to create a violent twisting vortex - similar to water swirling down a plughole - that drags along the ground at speeds of more than 100mph. The huge cloud, called a supercell, becomes much taller and more powerful than normal and lightning and hail from it are more ferocious.

The UK has the largest number of reported tornadoes for its land area in the world as cold air from the Arctic meets warmer, tropical air from the equator. Around 70 tornadoes were reported across the UK in 2004 and 2005, with 40 this year.

...curiosamente, nao sabia nada disto. Estava a jantar animadamente com uns amigos quando começaram a falar no Tornado, ao qual respondi "yes, it was a bit windy today", perante o olhar estranho que 5 pessoas me lançaram, percebi que algo nao estava bem e resolvi investigar... aqui está um dos benefícios da filosofia francesa: absorve-nos tanto que nos aliena totalmente da realidade! God bless Derrida!