Storm Darragh: ‘Deafening mini-tornado’ strikes Staffordshire as Britons face more weather chaos ahead of rare Met Office wind warning
A “mini-tornado” has struck part of Staffordshire as Britain braces for Storm Darragh.
Families in one street in Clayton, near Newcastle-under-Lyme said they are now assessing the damage after the “tornado” hit at around 5pm.
One Clayton Lane resident said: “A mini tornado just came through Clayton, it ripped our grass up, ripped the roof tiles off our neighbour’s roof. There’s fence panels everywhere, I’ve never seen anything like it, the sound was deafening!
“All the neighbours were in the street assessing the damage. A friend said they could hear the intense sound from far away near Westbury Park – like a bomb going off. It lasted about 15 seconds.”
Eye-witnesses say the tornado ripped through Kidsgrove and Talke in South Cheshire at around 5pm yesterday evening leaving large-scale damage in its wake.
One resident told Stoke-On-TrentLive: “Police have closed the road on The Avenue near the Kings High School after the tornado hit Kidsgrove this evening. Huge trees have been uprooted and fell in the middle of the road and on a closed down church roof.”
An amber weather warning for “potentially damaging” winds is in place for the west coast of the UK from South Ayrshire in Scotland down to Cornwall, as well as in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, the heaviest rainfall is expected to be focused in northern and western parts of the UK, with some hill snow expected in areas above 200m elevation.
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The fourth named storm of the season is expected to bring winds of up to 80mph and heavy rain on Friday afternoon and into the weekend, while 130 flood alerts have been issued.
The Met Office has issued an amber warning for “potentially damaging” winds along the west coast of the UK from South Ayrshire in Scotland down to Cornwall, as well as in Northern Ireland, on Saturday from 3am until 9pm.
Snow could also hit hilly areas of northern England on Saturday.
A yellow warning for rain will be in place for Northern Ireland and Wales, which were badly affected by flooding during Storm Bert, from 3pm on Friday until 12pm on Saturday.
Up to 60mm of rain could fall in these areas during the warning period, which may lead to some flooding and disruption, forecasters said.
Severe winds are already affecting travel in parts of the country with the M48 Severn Bridge in Gloucestershire was being closed on Thursday night because of gusty weather.
Storm Darragh is due to cross Ireland late on Friday, then parts of England and Wales on Saturday, clearing to the east of England on Saturday night or early Sunday.
The EA said it is carefully monitoring the progress of the storm ahead of the weekend.
Flood duty manager at the EA Katharine Smith said: “EA teams are out on the ground and will support local authorities in responding to surface water flooding. We urge people not to drive though flood water – it is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.”