Nursery glasshouses shattered by 'funnel cloud'

A freak weather event is claimed to have destroyed three nursery glasshouses in Lincolnshire.

Mike Roberts said people heard crashing as a finger-like cloud formation, which others mistakenly thought was a tornado, swept through rural West Pinchbeck on Saturday afternoon.

He estimated about 1,000 panes of glass were shattered at his premises in Fengate Road. No one is believed to have been injured.

The Met Office said a video posted on TikTok showed a "funnel cloud" rather than a tornado, adding "conditions were right" for the weather event.

Mr Roberts, owner of Alpha Plants, said: "It's absolutely devastating.

"We spent 30 years building the business up to one of the UK's big young plant producers and then in 30 seconds the roofs are all down.

"We're standing here with just inches of glass around our feet, twisted bents and glazing bars across the floor. About 2,000 square metres of glass is affected."

Mr Roberts said his insurers were assessing the damage.

The glass was tough enough to resist wind speeds of up to 90mph (145 km/h), he said, but "the twirling and swirling" of the cloud forced three connecting buildings to smash.

"I just put my head in [my hands] and I was just devastated. There weren't [any] words for it.

"It's really upsetting to see the amount of damage.

"The good thing is we have got a couple of blocks that haven't been touched."

Mr Roberts said he was "very lucky" the three glasshouses, which were interconnected, were almost empty as the firm was nearing the end of its growing season.

Other businesses had offered alternative spaces to continue with production, he said.

"We're normally producing about 200,000 plugs a week during the main season. Fortunately, this would have been the last week of the season.

"Most of the orders had already gone and the last few that were due to go out were in houses that was unaffected by the damage. So from that point of view, we got away lightly."

According to the Met Office, a funnel cloud is a cone-shaped formation that appears to dangle beneath a larger cloud towards the ground without actually reaching the surface.

It is formed when light and variable winds converge, causing spin in the lower levels of the atmosphere.

The rotating column of wind draws in cloud droplets, making a region of intense low pressure visible.

Funnel clouds are typically associated with cumulonimbus thunderclouds.

They are called tornados when they touch the ground and water spouts when they touch water.

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