Tornado leaves trail of destruction in West Sussex town

A roof was ripped off a house and cars and other properties were damaged as a tornado hit a West Sussex town on Saturday night.

The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) told the BBC a "definite tornado" hit Littlehampton after a site investigation on Sunday.

The weather event came after heavy rain showers moved north east from the English Channel on Saturday evening.

Local resident Naomi Theobold told BBC Sussex it happened "really fast".

She said: "It was quite scary. All you could see was rain and debris flying around."

After it passed, she said she could see "where it had ripped through mine and the neighbours' back gardens, taking the fences out and the furniture.

"Our trampoline is currently in someone else's garden, other neighbours' cars have been damaged by debris and walls in front gardens have come down too.

"It was all quite scary."

Another Littlehampton resident, Tasha Beer, said the end of her road was cordoned off on Saturday night, with emergency services present.

She said her car had "glass all over the back seat" and her wiper blades were found two roads away.

Abigail Clark said the wind passed through her street, Stanley Road, "taking out nearly everyone's fence panels, trampolines, some car windows and someone's roof has collapsed".

Sarah Horton, a site investigator from Torro, said she could tell it was a tornado "because of its long narrow track, because debris has been lifted up and carried some distance and its direction of movement shows it was tornadic".

The organisation measures tornadoes on a "T scale" and Ms Horton said her "provisional" assessment was a T4, a "severe tornado".

She said this was because one house had completely lost its roof.

In September, a similar intense weather event left Littlehampton residents saying it "looked like a war zone" but Ms Horton said this tornado was "stronger than the last one".

Sussex Police said it supported the fire and ambulance service in North Street, Littlehampton, following reports of phone lines collapsing onto a property at about 19:00 BST.

It said officers closed the road and worked with other agencies to ensure the safety of the public but no injuries were reported.

The severe weather forced Littlehampton Bonfire Society to cancel its procession and fireworks on Saturday.

The society said it was "devastated" and apologised for the inconvenience but said it was "deemed too unsafe to continue".

Elsewhere, in East Sussex on Saturday, heavy rain caused major flooding in the centre of Hastings.

The Priory Meadow Shopping Centre was evacuated by the fire service after streets, shops and car parks flooded.

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