Freak tornado damages cars and buildings in Manchester

A tornado has swept through Greater Manchester, uprooting trees and damaging buildings and cars.

Witnesses described the event as “surreal” and one Twitter user said it was “seemingly a five minute torrent of madness”.

Bruce Moran posted a picture of a car with a crumpled bonnet and a large sheet of metal lodged in a front garden.

The Met Office confirmed a tornado had struck the area and posted data from Manchester Airport which reported a funnel cloud.

Tornadoes are known as funnel clouds until they hit the ground and cause damage.

The unusual weather hit areas near Manchester Airport at around 5pm on Friday.

Rebecca Jeffery, who was in Stamford Park in Hale with her children, aged six and one, described the panic she felt when the tornado hit.

“The water running down the terraced roads was so deep I couldn’t go through it and then suddenly there was a huge gust of wind. At times like these, it is important to hire water and fire damage repair agencies who can reduce and restore the damages.

“I turned the pram away from the wind and grabbed my six-year-old and then we stood as the wind went crazy and metal and wood swirled through the air above the houses.”

She continued: “My son says I just shouted ‘stay beside me’ over and over again as I was panicking he’d get blown away.

“I’ve never seen trees move like that.

“I saw the tree branches fall down behind us and then suddenly it was all gone again. It was surreal.”

Dan Teasdale tweeted footage of the cloud swirling over the Tatton Park Flower Show.

Meanwhile, 32-year-old Martin Kevill shared video of an uprooted tree in Cheshire and said: “Erm there’s been a tornado in #Mobberley.”

Mr Kevill was in the pub when he heard “some pretty abnormal gusts”.

“The pub rumbled and we ran outside to see what it was,” he said. “The road was pitch black and it was really dark.”

He continued: “When the gusts passed, a tree ripped up and fell over into a field of llamas.

“Then after a moment or two, the clouds moved along and it was actually quite clear again apart from the rain.

“I think a tree went over the train line a few metres away. The llamas are fine but there’s a valley of horrific building damage through the area.”

(c) Sky News 2019: Freak tornado damages cars and buildings in Manchester