but they're
usually small, short lived and do little damage.
The Birmingham tornado back in 2005 was an exception- an F2-3 that cut a path of destruction over seven miles long. An F2 also hit London last
December.
From the Independent:
....the violent weather was caused by the meeting of two extreme winds, one warm and one cold. The organisation said that up to 11 tornadoes occurred when a squall line ripped through the Midlands and southern parts of the country early in the morning, with gusts of up to 80mph.
Terry Parrott, from Farnborough, saw the twister approaching his house. " At about 7.30, I was getting ready to get in the shower and I heard this tremendous rushing noise – the winds were just getting stronger and stronger, " he said.
"I looked out of my bedroom window and saw this huge whirling thing come through between the two houses and it lifted the garage roofs up.
"It just picked everythingup, even stuff that was nailed down. It was incredible, then after 90 seconds it was gone, it was all over".
Hayley Stroud, 27, also from Farnborough said the noise from the twister was so loud that her son was screaming in fear. "It was like something out of The Wizard of Oz", she said.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2996104.ece