The Met Office is investigating reports of a “tornado” in east London on Friday evening, which saw walls collapse, car windows shatter, and clouds circle in the sky.
Craig Snell, a forecaster at the Met Office, said that the body couldn’t currently confirm or deny that there had been a tornado, but that “all the ingredients” for a tornado were present.
Tornados originate during thunderstorms when winds rise from the surface, come together, and begin to rotate. It is this wind rotation that creates the famous circular twister image of the tornado.
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Mr Snell told i that the environment was right for a tornado, with warm air present and a thunderstorm taking place. However, Mr Snell said scientists were “still trying to analyse” what had occurred, and that the tornado-effect could have been caused by strong winds funnelling through houses.
“The only way we can confirm [immediately] is if it goes over one of our visual observing sites, which is obviously very unlikely,” he said. “We will look at images sent into us and try and confirm but at the moment that’s not possible.”
Videos shared on social media showed grey cloud swirling in the sky and debris flying overhead over residential streets in Barking. According to witnesses, walls were torn down, with videos showing bricks strewn across residential streets, and cars were also damaged.
Mr Snell also confirmed that the freak weather event had also caused flooding in the area.
Emergency services were called to reports that a tornado had swept through several streets in Barking in the early evening, but said no-one had been injured.
“Police were called at around 1920hrs to reports of damage caused to roofs, electrical equipment, street furniture and vehicles in Hulse Avenue and some surrounding roads in the Barking area. This is a weather related incident, during which there was a lightning strike,” the Met Police’s Barking and Dagenham division said.
“In addition to the lightning strike, we have seen reports of a tornado but cannot confirm this. There are no reports of any casualties. Officers are liaising with the local authority to ensure support is available to anyone affected by damage to property.”
According to the Met Office, tornados are “not too uncommon” in the UK, with an average of around 35 recorded each year.
They mostly occur during Summer and Autumn, but are on a much smaller scale than those seen in the US, tending to cause less damage and be short-lived.
Prior to Friday’s events, the nearest tornado to Barking happened in 2006 in West London. The year before, in July 2005, another tornado occurred in Birmingham and generated “quite a bit of damage” to the local area.
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