'Breathtaking': Rare tornado filmed sweeping through Northampton

‘The noise of the wind was like nothing I’ve ever heard in my life,’ says witness

A tornado tore through Northampton, lifting tiles from rooftops, overturning sheds and pulling down power lines.

The twister is thought to have caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage to homes and allotments in just 30 seconds.

In footage taken by residents around 8pm on Saturday the tornado can be seen tearing along the ground and chucking debris into the air.

High winds and storms were battering the area when the black column started moving across fields towards the town.

Allotment owners said they believe the cost of the damage is expected to run into thousands of pounds after sheds were overturned and fence panels lifted from the ground.

(Bethany Newbery / SWNS.com (Bethany Newbery / SWNS.com)

Other locals reported tiles being ripped from rooves, electricity cables coming down and trampolines and bins being lifted from gardens.

For a funnel cloud to be classified by the Met Office as a tornado, it has to touch the ground, and many witnesses said they saw it doing so.

Joe Minney, of Moulton, said: “You couldn’t hear anything but the sheer roar of the wind as the tornado ripped through the back of the house and the allotments.

“It was crazy. The door was open to let a breeze in, but I never expected a tornado to come past. I couldn’t physically shut the back door.

“My bathroom window blew open and my blind was ripped out the fixings.

“My bins were blown over and the rubbish chucked up into the air really high. It was all over so quickly – maybe 30 seconds or so.”

Another Moulton resident, Carl Jones, said: “It was pretty hair-raising stuff. It has made a right mess of the allotments and some power lines also came down.

“I never thought I’d see a tornado – it was quite a breathtaking thing to see and the noise of the wind was like nothing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

The UK usually has up to 35 tornadoes a year, but they rarely cause significant damage.

A Met Office spokesman said funnel clouds were cone-shaped clouds that extend from the base of a cloud towards the ground.

The tornado hits Northampton (SWNS.com)

“In the UK they often look like thin dangling bits of rope, hanging from the cloud above. But in hot spots such as tornado alley in the USA, funnel clouds can sometimes be thicker and much more intense,” he said.

“They form when a rotating column of wind draws in cloud droplets, making a region of intense low pressure visible.

“They are formed in the same way as a tornado building around this localised area of intensely low pressure and are typically associated with the formation of cumulonimbus thunderclouds.

“If a funnel cloud does make contact with the ground and produce a tornado, very strong winds can be expected in the immediate vicinity of the vortex, potentially causing severe damage.”

Additional reporting by SWNS