A tornado has appeared to overturn a caravan and leave buildings and vehicles damaged in northwest England, as strong winds batter much of the UK.
High winds and heavy showers have been sweeping across the England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with coastal areas experiencing gusts of up to 55mph.
Pictures showed an overturned caravan in St Giles Road, in the Staffordshire village of Knutton, with the conditions also leaving roofs, sheds, fencing and cars damaged.
David Hemming said he was at work on Monday when the strong winds hit his home, pushing his caravan onto its side on his driveway and smashing it into his camper van.
“It was just one big gust of wind,” he said. “I was at work, I was just leaving and I looked at the camera on the house before I left, and my caravan was on its side and had smashed into my van.
“There are two sheds gone at the back. It has destroyed all the fence panels. It was just 20 seconds and then that was it, it had gone.”
Image: An overturned caravan in Knutton after high winds swept through the area. Pic: PA
He added: “It must have been a tornado from all the damage it has done. It’s just gone straight through the street.”
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The road has been cordoned off by Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Image: Buildings in Staffordshire were also damaged by the conditions. Pic: PA
‘Tiles flying everywhere’
Neighbour Michael Wearing said Mr Hemming’s shed ended up in his back garden.
“It was definitely a tornado, without a shadow of a doubt,” he said. “You heard it winding up, it sounded like a Hoover starting up.”
Mr Wearing’s front window was smashed by flying debris and his van windscreen is too damaged for him to be able to drive it.
“Someone has had a trampoline through their roof, there were tiles flying everywhere,” he added.
Image: Emergency services cordoned off a road in Knutton following the extreme weather. Pic: PA
‘Particularly impactful winds’
The Met Office said it was not possible to verify if the strong gusts in Staffordshire were a tornado, but added the winds “had some potential” to create them.
Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon told Sky News: “The fronts moving southwards this morning had the potential for short-lived tornadoes to develop which could have caused impacts for some.
“Tornadoes do happen in the UK and are generally short-lived. Around 30 a year are reported in the UK, on average.”
He added such events are normally not captured by radar imagery and can “only be assessed by looking at the evidence on the ground”.
“Today, there have been some reports of some particularly impactful winds,” he said.
The Met Office website defines a tornado as a “rapidly rotating column of air that reaches the base of a storm cloud and the Earth’s surface”.
Image: A damaged vehicle is towed away from Knutton. Pic: PA
Bridges, parks and attractions closed
Bridges, parks and National Trust sites across the UK were forced to close due to the windy conditions, amid warnings gusts could reach 45mph inland.
The M48 Severn Bridge was closed early on Monday in both directions as a result of the high winds.
In Yorkshire, the Humber Bridge was forced to close to certain vehicles, including motorhomes, cars with roof boxes, motorcycles and high-sided heavy goods vehicles.
Image: A damaged roof is inspected in Knutton. Pic: PA
Parks were shut across London including sections of Hampstead Heath, West Ham park and playgrounds in Regents Park, Greenwich Park and Hyde Park.
Kew Gardens announced it would not be opening on Monday due to “adverse weather conditions”.
Tourist attractions including parts of Dover Castle and Ainsdale Beach in Southport were also forced to close.
Image: The yellow weather warning for wind covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Pic: Met Office
Drier conditions set to move in
The Met Office’s yellow warning for wind – covering the whole of Northern Ireland, Wales and England as far north as Cumbria – is in place until 10pm on Monday.
Showers are expected across many areas until Friday before drier conditions are set to move in, according to forecasters.
Mr Dixon said: “By the time we get to the weekend, there’s a signal for higher pressure to build in from the southwest which would settle things down in terms of rainfall totals.”
It comes after some parts of the UK experienced unusually warm temperatures in recent days, with 21.8C (71.2F) recorded in Writtle, Essex, on Saturday.
Sir Keir Starmer has urged anyone with information on the Jeffrey Epstein case to come forward after Andrew Mountbatten Windsor missed the deadline to appear in front of US Congress.
US legislators have criticised Andrew for what they describe as “silence” amid their probe into Epstein after he failed to respond to their request for an interview.
When asked about Andrew missing the deadline and whether the former princeshould help the case in any way he can, Sir Keir said on his way to the G20 summit in South Africa: “I don’t comment on this particular case.”
He added that “a general principle I’ve held for a very long time is that anybody who has got relevant information in relation to these kind of cases should give that evidence to those that need it”.
Andrew is not legally obliged to talk to Congress and has always vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
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Image: Sir Keir Starmer spoke to reporters on his way to the G20 in South Africa. Pic: Reuters
It comes as Marjorie Taylor Greene, a loyal supporter-turned-critic of US President Donald Trump, said on Friday she is resigning from Congress in January.
Ms Greene’s resignation followed a public falling-out with Mr Trump in recent months, as the congresswoman criticised him for his stance on files related to Epstein, as well as on foreign policy and healthcare.
Members of the House Oversight Committee had requested a “transcribed interview” with Andrew in connection with his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein, the paedophile financier who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
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Releasing the Epstein files: How we got here
But after saying they had not heard back, Democrats Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyam accused Andrew of hiding.
Their statement read: “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s silence in the face of the Oversight Democrat’s demand for testimony speaks volumes.
“The documents we’ve reviewed, along with public records and Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s testimony, raise serious questions he must answer, yet he continues to hide.
“Our work will move forward with or without him, and we will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status, or political party. We will get justice for the survivors.”
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The new Epstein files: The key takeaways
It follows Andrew being stripped of his prince and Duke of York titles earlier this month.
He had previously agreed to stop using his titles, but had expected to remain a prince and retain his dukedom, ahead of the publication of the memoirs of the late Ms Giuffre, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager – an accusation he denies.
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a woman in Swindon.
Police said the teenager was detained following an incident in Baydon Close, Moredon, in the Wiltshire town on Friday evening.
Officers responded to reports of disorder inside a house. When they arrived, a woman in her 50s living at the address was found to be not breathing. She was declared dead at the scene.
There were no other reported injuries.
Image: Forensic officers are at the scene to collect evidence
Detective Inspector Darren Ambrose, from Wiltshire Police’s major crime investigation team, said: “This is a serious incident in which a woman has sadly died.
“We have set up a cordon at the address while an investigation is carried out.
“I can confirm that we have arrested a teenage girl in connection with this incident and we are not looking for anyone else.”
Police have asked people not to speculate about the incident online as this could prejudice the case.
A police statement read: “Residents can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while we continue carrying out our enquiries into the woman’s death.
Rail fares are to be frozen for the first time in 30 years, the government has announced.
Ministers promised that millions of rail travellers will save hundreds of pounds on regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns between major cities.
The fare freeze applies to England and services run by English train operators.
People commuting to work three days a week using flexi-season tickets will save £315 a year travelling from Milton Keynes to London, £173 travelling from Woking to London and £57 from Bradford to Leeds, the government said.
The changes are part of Labour’s plans to rebuild a publicly owned Great British Railways. Other planned changes include tap in-tap out and digital ticketing, as well as investing in superfast Wi-Fi.
Image: The freeze applies to regulated fares, including season tickets and peak and off-peak returns. Pic: iStock
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government was introducing a freeze on rail fares for the first time in 30 years, which “will ease the pressure on household finances and make travelling to work, school or to visit friends and family that bit easier”.
“We all want to see cheaper rail travel, so we’re freezing fares to help millions of passengers save money,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
“Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year, meaning they keep more of their hard-earned cash.”
Rail unions and passenger groups welcomed the move, praising how it will make travel more affordable for passengers and promote more sustainable travel alternatives.
Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: “More affordable fares will encourage greater use of public transport, supporting jobs, giving a shot in the arm to local economies and helping to improve the environment.”
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the rail fare freeze “will be a huge relief to working people”.
“This is the right decision, at the right time, to help passengers be able to afford to make that journey they need to take, and to help grow our railway in this country, because the railway is Britain’s green alternative – taking cars and lorries off our congested roads and moving people and goods safely around our country in an environmentally-friendly way,” Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers union Aslef, said.
The Tories welcomed the move but said the government was “late to the platform”.
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said: “In government, the Conservatives kept fares on the right track with below-inflation rises and consistently called for no further hikes to protect hard-working commuters.”