Tornado tears through town in terrifying onslaught with homes and trees damaged

Brits were struck by a tornado on Friday which swept through a town in Hampshire wreaking havoc in its path.

The column of air - confirmed by the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation - caused destruction and chaos in Aldershot, Hampshire, on Friday. The tornado was tracked moving around 1.2miles through the town at around 12.25pm.

Terrifying video shows the fierce pillar of wind causing damage to trees and properties on Friday afternoon. In one, captured on a resident's doorbell cam, trees and bushes outside can be seen almost snapping beneath the force of the storm as it sweeps across a driveway.

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One of the most striking impacts was the destruction of a chimney stack, which was toppled by the force of the tornado. Thankfully nobody was injured during the freak storm, Rushmoor Borough Council confirmed.

Residents in the area have been urged to contact emergency services if they see damaged trees in a precarious position which could fall or injure someone. Authorities spent the afternoon clearing up debris whilst emergency services attended to homes hit by the storm.

A spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said they were called to a "number" of incidents on Friday in which damaged was caused by the tornado. Roof tiles were seen blown off onto roads and pavements and one tree was pictured fully uprooted from a garden in the town.

"Firefighters are part of a joint response at an incident in Aldershot after a number of properties and trees were damaged in strong winds," the service said. "Crews from Rushmoor and Surrey Fire and Rescue Services were first called shortly after midday and are working closely with partner agencies to make the scene safe."

While storms on a destructive scale are relatively rare in the UK, tornadoes are a surprisingly common occurrence, with around 30 a year. The phenomena are caused by patches of warm, humid air colliding with cooler, dry air, although their exact workings remain a subject of research.

The tornado followed various thunderstorms in the area. It followed the Met Office issuing a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms in the area earlier in the week, which followed several days of bright, sunny weather and temperatures bursting the 20C mark.

Paul Knightley, from the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation, told the BBC: “The formation of tornadoes is still the subject of intensive research, and their exact mechanisms are yet to be understood. In a broad sense, though, pre-existing rotation in the lower atmosphere can be stretched by the strong upwards-moving air in a thunderstorm, and focussed into a tornado. This seems likely to have been what happened today.”