26 July 2023 , 14:18
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One person has been killed after a 135mph tornado tore through Switzerland and razed entire neighbourhoods to the ground.
The sky turned black in a matter of moments as the twister ripped through La Chaux-de-Fonds on Monday. One person was killed with at least 15 more injured.
Terrifying footage showed the city in a state of relative calm before the tornado struck and destroyed everything in its path, toppling trees and sending debris flying.
It comes as two apocalyptic weather fronts barrel through the continent. Storms struck the north of Europe as at least nine other countries battled wildfires raging across the south amid unprecedented temperatures.
Trees were toppled, buildings destroyed and debris shot around the town of La Chau-de-Fonds, Switzerland after a massive tornado ripped through the town (AP)One man in his 50s died when the tornado toppled the crane he was on at a site of contruction, according to Neuchatel Police.
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While the storm raced through the town relatively quickly, it was the pounding winds that caused the majority of the damage, including totalled vehicles, torn off roofs and furniture that was blasted away.
More footage showed how quickly the storm came on. One minute, a cloud rolled over the lush Swiss countryside, but then a fog consumed the landscape before the winds picked up and tress were almost uprooted.
The twister appeared in a matter of minutes (MariusTgi/Twitter)Weather watchers said wind speeds reached 135 miles an hour on Monday due to a "storm cell" that galvanised as it reached the area.
People have been urged to avoid certain areas which could put them at risk of being crushed by falling tiles or trees. Police warned that there are still more storms to come.
Policemen and firefighters work near a fallen crane yesterday (AP)Fires raging through forests, mountain villages and towns in northern Algeria have left at least 34 people dead, with 23 of them in the coastal region of Bejaia, according to authorities and a local radio station keeping track of the grim toll. Among those killed in hard-hit Bejaia were 10 soldiers encircled by flames during an evacuation, the Defense Ministry reported Monday night.
And in Italy, seven people have died in the past 24 hours as two extreme weather events split the country with wildfires in the south and violent storms in the north. An 88-year-old woman died yesterday in San Martino delle Scale, a few miles from the Sicilian capital. And a few hours later, the bodies of two people, aged around 75 and 77, were found in a house hit by a wildfire in Cinisi, near the airport.
Greek police said a burned body, believed to belong to a sheep farmer who had been missing since Sunday, was found on Tuesday. It was unclear whether he had been killed by the fire or had died of other causes beforehand.