It’s been a wild time for weather warnings and now, The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) have issued, of all things, a tornado warning for parts of the UK this week.
Affecting south Wales, parts of the Midlands, East Anglia, south England and the Channel Islands, the organisation has warned that over the next day or so, residents can expect some harsh weather including isolated brief tornadoes. Yikes.
Yesterday (February 21st), the experts said: “overnight, parts of Wales will have one or two lines of showery rain, and then later tonight and on Thursday, another area of showery rain, with lines/possible cells, will cross parts of central and southern England.”
They went on to say that both sets of showery rain may bring gusts and the small chance of one or two brief tornadoes. The areas most likely to experience these tornadoes are Central Southern England, the south east Midlands, East Anglia and south east England.
Should we be worried about tornado warnings in the UK?
Of course, the word ‘tornado’ itself is enough to put fear into our hearts but do we actually need to be as concerned as we are?
Well, no. They’re not actually a new phenomena here and according to TORRO, around 36 tornadoes occur each year in the UK and they’re very rarely deadly occurrences here.
However, TORRO do urge people to take caution, offering the following advice:
- Never try to outrun a tornado even in a car
- Never try to punch through the eye of a storm
- If the tornado is close get out of the vehicle and shelter in a solid building
- Tornadoes can change direction suddenly and can outrun vehicles. If you are caught out in the open seek the lowest point on the ground such as a gully or ditch and lie face down as flat as you can. Close your eyes tightly and cover your ears with your hands
Stay safe!