At least 20 houses were damaged and 10 cars destroyed in Surrey County, in the southeast of the United Kingdom, on Saturday by a tornado hitting the area, local media reported.
The terrifying tornado, which lasted for less than a minute, caused destruction to roofs, gardens, trees and cars, taking “everything in its path”.
“It was really frightening, like nothing I've ever seen in my life - like we weren't in the UK. My girls were screaming. If they were outside it would definitely have taken them away. It was fierce. At one point I thought it was going to take the house. It was literally taking everything in its path,” said Pip Rickerby, 39, who witnessed the incident, cited by The Sun.
A weak #tornado had struck to hit Surrey U.K. this morning. The EF1 tornado has winds of 90-100mph, bringing significant damage to trees, fences and peel some shingles off the roofs. pic.twitter.com/G7QXvUJWnl
— Joint Cyclone Center (@JointCyclone) December 21, 2019
Another woman, Tracy Bramley, who was inside her car during the tornado, said that she a hole was punched in the roof of her auto.
"I was sat in my car at the time, it all changed really quickly, it started to whip up, I could feel my car beginning to rock a bit, it just came a bit out of nowhere really,” said Tracy Bramley, cited by The Sun.
WOW.... #Tornado report that it hit #Chertsey, Surrey, UK this morning 21st December! Fence panels ripped off and trees reported down! This video captures it via @surreylive #severeweather #extremeweather #ukweather pic.twitter.com/52g79rgLZO
— WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) December 21, 2019
Crews from Surrey Fire and Rescue have also been sent to reports of a tornado hurtling through Ottershaw.
— Kernow Weather Team (@KWTWeather) December 21, 2019
More than 20 homes suffered damaged roofs and 10 cars were struck by falling tiles on one estate, where fences and trees were also brought down.@piratefm@Evotekmarine pic.twitter.com/bnBbfpA2YX
A tornado hit Surrey and this is the highlight of the article imo.
— JJ (@JJ_Baker_) December 21, 2019
"A trampoline was also knocked over" pic.twitter.com/gEAf0Obld3
TORNADO DAMAGES HOMES AND CARS IN SURREY
— mnrrnt2 and 100 others (@mnrrntt) December 21, 2019
3 fence panels and a bin pic.twitter.com/AtqLiYudIB