‘Tornado’ overturns caravan and damages buildings in Staffordshire as high winds batter UK
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.
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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.”
An overturned caravan in Knutton after high winds swept through the area. Pic: PA
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He added: “It must have been a tornado from all the damage it has done. It’s just gone straight through the street.”
The road has been cordoned off by Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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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.
Reports of a “board-level orchestrated coup” at the BBC are “complete nonsense”, non-executive director Sir Robbie Gibb has told MPs.
Sir Robbie, whose position on the BBC board has been challenged by critics in recent weeks, was among senior leaders, including the broadcaster’s chair, Samir Shah, to face questions from the Culture, Media and Sport committee about the current crisis.
The hearing took place in the wake of the fallout over the edit of a speech by US President Donald Trump, which prompted the resignation of the corporation’s director-general and the chief executive of BBC News, and the threat of a lawsuit from the US president.
Former BBC editorial adviser Michael Prescott wrote the memo that was leaked. Pic: PA
Former editorial adviser Michael Prescott, whose leaked memo sparked the recent chain of events, also answered questions from MPs – telling the hearing he felt he kept seeing “incipient problems” that were not being tackled.
He also said Mr Trump’s reputation had “probably not” been tarnished by the Panorama edit.
During his own questioning, Sir Robbie addressed concerns of potential political bias – he left BBC News in 2017 to become then prime minister Theresa May’s director of communications, a post he held until 2019, and was appointed to the BBC board in 2021 by Boris Johnson.
BBC board member Sir Robbie Gibb appearing before the Culture, Media and Sport committee. Pic: PA
“I know it’s hard to marry the fact that I spent two years as director of communications for the government… and my genuine passion for impartiality,” he said.
“I want to hear the full range of views… I don’t want the BBC to be partisan or favour any particular way.”
Asked about reports and speculation that there has been a “board-level orchestrated coup”, Sir Robbie responded: “It’s up there as one of the most ridiculous charges… People had to find some angle.
“It’s complete nonsense. It’s also deeply offensive to fellow board members… people of great standing in different fields.”
He said his political work has been “weaponised” – and that it was hard as a non-executive member of the BBC to respond to criticism.
‘We should have made the decision earlier’
BBC chair Samir Shah also answered questions. Pic: PA
Mr Shah admitted the BBC was too slow in responding to the issue of the Panorama edit of Mr Trump, which had been flagged long before the leaked memo.
“Looking back, I think we should have made the decision earlier,” he said. “I think in May, as it happens.
“I think there is an issue about how quickly we respond, the speed of our response. Why do we not do it quickly enough? Why do we take so much time? And this was another illustration of that.”
Following reports of the leaked memo, it took nearly a week for the BBC to issue an apology.
Mr Shah told the committee he did not think Mr Davie needed to resign over the issue and that he “spent a great deal of time” trying to stop him from doing so.
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Asked about his own position, Mr Shah said his job now is to “steady the ship”, and that he is not someone “who walks away from a problem”.
A job advert for the BBC director-general role has since gone live on the corporation’s careers website.
Mr Shah told the hearing his view is that the role is “too big” for one person and that he is “inclined” to restructure roles at the top.
He says he believes there should also be a deputy director-general who is “laser-focused on journalism”, which is “the most important thing and our greatest vulnerability”.
Earlier in the hearing, Mr Prescott gave evidence alongside another former BBC editorial adviser, Caroline Daniel.
He told the CMS committee that there are “issues of denial” at the BBC and said “the management did not accept there was a problem” with the Panorama episode.
Mr Prescott’s memo highlighted concerns about the way clips of Mr Trump’s speech on January 6 2021 were spliced together so it appeared he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”.
‘I can’t think of anything I agree with Trump on’
Mr Trump has said he is going to pursue a lawsuit of between $1bn and $5bn against the broadcaster, despite receiving an official public apology.
Asked if the documentary had harmed Mr Trump’s image, Mr Prescott responded: “I should probably restrain myself a little bit, given that there is a potential legal action.
“All I could say is, I can’t think of anything I agree with Donald Trump on.”
He was later pushed on the subject, and asked again if he agreed that the programme tarnished the president’s reputation, to which he then replied: “Probably not.”
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Why are people calling for Sir Robbie Gibb to go?
Mr Prescott, a former journalist, also told the committee he did not know how his memo was leaked to the Daily Telegraph.
“At the most fundamental level, I wrote that memo, let me be clear, because I am a strong supporter of the BBC.
“The BBC employs talented professionals across all of its factual and non-factual programmes, and most people in this country, certainly myself included, might go as far as to say that they love the BBC.
He said he “never envisaged” the fallout that would occur. “I was hoping the concerns I had could, and would, be addressed privately in the first instance.”
Asked if he thinks the BBC is institutionally biased, he said: “No, I don’t.”
He said that “tonnes” of the BBC’s work is “world class” – but added that there is “real work that needs to be done” to deal with problems.
Mr Davie, he said, did a “first-rate job” as director-general but had a “blind spot” toward editorial failings.
Police have appealed for information after a man was charged with murdering two women and raping a third.
Simon Levy has been charged with murdering 53-year-old Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo who died on the Aylesbury Estate, south-east London, on 17 March, the Metropolitan Police said.
In September, Levy, of Beaufoy Road, Tottenham, north London, was charged with murdering 39-year-old Sheryl Wilkins who was found unresponsive in High Road, Tottenham, on 24 August.
He is also accused of grievous bodily harm with intent, non-fatal strangulation and two counts of rape against a third woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in Haringey, north London, on 21 January, police said.
The 40-year-old will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with Ms Valencia-Trujillo’s murder.
Sheryl Wilkins was found unresponsive in High Road, Tottenham, on 24 August. Pic: Metropolitan Police
He is also due to appear at the Old Bailey on Wednesday for a plea and trial preparation hearing for the murder of Ms Wilkins.
Detectives believe there may be individuals who have information relevant to this investigation – or who are yet to report incidents which have directly impacted them – and are asking for people to come forward.
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