29 October 2023 , 15:36
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A devastating tornado has ripped off the roof of a house and damaged cars during a night of freak weather.
Locals have described the chaos caused by torrential rain and debris whirling around the skies as the twister hit Littlehampton in West Sussex. Investigators have confirmed a "definite tornado" caused the damage. They say it left a trail of destruction that bore all the hallmarks of a funnel-shapped storm.
Local resident Naomi Theobold told BBC Sussex it happened "really fast". She added: "It was quite scary. All you could see was rain and debris flying around."
She said the high-speed twisting wind ripped through her and a neighbour's back gardens, taking the fences out and the furniture. Naomi added: "Our trampoline is currently in someone else's garden, other neighbours' cars have been damaged by debris and walls in front gardens have come down too.
Savage storm winds tore the rood off a house as heavy rainfall flooded towns along the Sussex coastEmergency services cordoned off the road on Saturday night. The tornado formed as heavy rain showers moved north east from the English Channel during the evening. There was widespread flooding in many parts of the UK.
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Another resident Tasha Beer, said her car had "glass all over the back seat" and her wiper blades were found two roads away, while Abigail Clark said the wind passed through once street, "taking out nearly everyone's fence panels, trampolines, some car windows and someone's roof has collapsed".
The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) told the BBC it was definitely a tornado "because of its long narrow track, because debris has been lifted up and carried some distance and its direction of movement shows it was tornadic". Her "provisional" assessment was a T4, a "severe tornado", referring to the T scale which measures all twisters.
Savage storm winds tore the rood off a house as heavy rainfall flooded towns along the Sussex coastIt is not the first time the town had suffered from such a weather event. In September, residents said "Looked like a war zone". The latest tornado is thought to have been much stronger than the last. Sussex Police said they were called to reports of phone lines collapsing onto a property at about 7pm. Officers closed the road and worked with other agencies to ensure the safety of the public but no injuries were reported.
Heavy rain also caused major flooding in other parts of East Sussex on Saturday, most seriously in the centre of Hastings. The Priory Meadow Shopping Centre was evacuated after shops and car parks flooded.