The 2006 London tornado was a significant United Kingdom

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

spawned from a

squall line A squall line, or more accurately a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), is a line of thunderstorms, often forming along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front (which often are accompa ...

moving over the city on 7 December 2006 at approximately 11:02 GMT. Its intensity is estimated to have been T4 on the

TORRO scale The TORRO tornado intensity scale (or T-Scale) is a scale measuring tornado intensity between T0 and T11. It was proposed by Terence Meaden of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO), a meteorological organisation in the United Kingdo ...

, equating to F2 on the

Fujita scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

Meteorological synopsis

On the morning of 7 December, the UK was under the influence of a strong

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

low pressure system In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...

, which was named ''Ulrike'', bringing unstable weather conditions to much of the UK, and the south in particular. At approximately 07:30 GMT, a small band of

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

s initialised over

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

moving east-northeast across the country. By approximately 10:00 am, the squall line had reached

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, where a drop in

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

was recorded, which may have resulted in an increase of

atmospheric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

behind the squall, causing it to accelerate forward. This increased motion in combination with a change in wind direction ahead of the storm may have initialised the rotation of the

mesocyclone A mesocyclone is a meso-gamma mesoscale (or storm scale) region of rotation (vortex), typically around in diameter, most often noticed on radar within thunderstorms. In the northern hemisphere it is usually located in the right rear flank (back ...

in one of the now strong storm cells, resulting in the touchdown of the T4 tornado in Kensal Rise, London, at 11 am.

Aftermath

The

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...

and structural surveyors assessed the damage and structural safety of affected properties. In the meantime, several hundred people were displaced from their homes until they had been declared safe for their occupants to return.

Brent London Borough Council Brent London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Brent in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. It is based at Brent Civic Centre in Engineers Way ...

, speaking to a national newspaper, announced that none of the affected properties are likely to be demolished, though a total of 29 homes have been declared as unfit for habitation due to the damage caused by the tornado.

References

External links

Six hurt as tornado hits London – BBC News
* {{DEFAULTSORT:2006 London Tornado

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

December 2006 events in the United Kingdom L F2 tornadoes History of the London Borough of Brent Tornadoes in the United Kingdom Tornadoes of 2006 Weather events in England

Meteorological synopsis

Aftermath

See also

References

External links