Tornado strikes : Reports of heavy rain disrupting Christmas travel plans for millions of English citizens prompted firefighters to be called.
Showers swept across the south of England on Saturday. One suburban community saw several houses destroyed by high winds.
Surrey Fire and Rescue received reports about a tornado in Chertsey just before 10.30 am.
According to the service, they stated that they were called to investigate a high wind event that had affected a number houses in the Chertsey region.
Four fire engines and two ladders were sent by crews to the London suburb. They worked to protect roofs and make homes safe.
Surrey Police confirmed that they were present at the scene to ensure the safety of the public.
Surrey Live reports that Runnymede Police received numerous reports from officers about trees falling in Chertsey.
Tracy Bramley was in her car at the time of the tornado and said that there was a hole in her roof.
“It lasted less that a minute and it just started to build slowly.
“I was sitting in my car at that time. It all changed very quickly. I could feel my car starting to rock a little, it seemed to have come out of nowhere.
“At the end, nobody is hurt. It can all be fixed.”
The yellow warning for rain extends from Lands End to Dover and is valid until Sunday at 9am.
Andrew Griffith, MP for South Down and Arundel, posted photos of roads that were flooded.
The Conservative MP wrote on Twitter that the flooding in Pulborough inspired him to write to Housing Secretary to discuss flood risk and new housing developments.
Alex Burkill, Met Office forecaster, stated on Saturday that it would be very rainy in the southern part of the country as we travel through the remainder of today and tomorrow.
Although the rain isn’t particularly heavy for this time of the year, he expects it will cause problems in areas that have been soaked in recent weeks or months.
Burkill said: “Rainfall totals only look like 20-30mm, which is not unusual for the time of the year, but it’s been so rainy this month and throughout the rest of fall, there could still be flooding in these areas.
“There is a possibility of slow travel times on roads in the warning area.
“It’s not looking very severe in terms of weather, but it could be disruptive due to the large number of people who want to travel.”
Burkill stated that there could be patchy fog elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Northern England, and Scotland.
According to the RAC there are approximately 5.6 million planned getaway trips for Monday and Tuesday.
According to the motoring body, the worst delays will be experienced on Sunday. The M25 is between M23 and M40. Roads between Flitwick, Daventry and Flitwick are thought to have longest queues of up 90 minutes.
