Cheshire: ‘Mini tornado’ hits UK town causing damage to houses

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Dramatic clips posted on social media showed the destruction caused by the gale, with trees and brick walls having fallen down and debris strewn across a street in Widnes.

The footage also showed the emergency services at the scene and residents in the street assessing the damage.

There have been no reports of any injuries.

A spokesperson for Cheshire Police said: “At 12.25pm on Wednesday 20 October police received reports of damage in the Widnes area.

“The damage includes a wall falling down, windows of cars smashed and debris on Camberwell Road.

“A number of road closures are in place including Camberwell Road at the junction of Moorfield.

“Damage has also occurred to the garage of a property on Kensington Close.

“There have been no reports of any injuries. The damage has been reported to police as being caused by a mini tornado.”

It comes following a yellow weather warning earlier in the week which forecast strong winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms.

The Met Office could not confirm if the weather constituted a “tornado” but said it could have been possible.

A Met Office spokesperson said: “We have seen the images of the destruction that was caused by strong winds, but we’ve not seen any footage or heard of any reports of anyone actually seeing a physical tornado.

“All we can say is that the weather set-up today was favourable for the potential for tornadoes to develop, we just had a very heavy shower and thunderstorm move through at the time that the damage occurred.

“So there is definitely potential that it may have been a tornado, but we can’t say either way if it definitely was or not.”

Giving the forecast for the North West for the next 24 hours, they added: “There were some really heavy downpours in Greater Manchester and Cheshire today, and some thunderstorms too. They continued into the afternoon but have now moved away, so it’s an improving picture through the rest of today and tomorrow.

“It should be largely dry this evening, with the potential for a little bit of rain overnight but nothing particularly heavy.”

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