The 2005 Birmingham tornado was one of the strongest

tornadoes 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 ...

recorded in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in nearly 30 years, occurring on 28 July 2005 in the suburbs of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. It formed on a day when thunderstorms were expected to develop across the Midlands and eastern England. The tornado struck at approximately 14:30 BST in the

Sparkbrook Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council. Etymology The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that f ...

area and also affected

King's Heath Kings Heath (historically, and still occasionally King's Heath) is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, four miles south of the city centre. Historically in Worcestershire, it is the next suburb south from Moseley on the A435, Alcester road. ...

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

and

Balsall Heath Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle. History Balsall Heath was agricultural land between Moseley village and the city of B ...

as it carved a 7 kilometre-long path through the city.

Background

While England has more reported tornadoes, relative to its land area, than any other country, the vast majority are weak. The strongest recorded tornado in the country struck

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 14 December 1810, with a T8 (F4) rating. In Birmingham, a tornado struck the city in 1931, killing one woman and severely damaging several houses. On 23 November 1981, during a record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak, two tornadoes touched down within the Birmingham city limits – in

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

and

Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harborne ...

– with six tornadoes touching down within the boundaries of the wider

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

county.

Effects and damage

The main effects of the July 2005 tornado in Birmingham were felt on Ladypool Road, which bore the brunt of the damage. Ladypool Primary School was extensively damaged and lost its distinctive

Martin & Chamberlain John Henry Chamberlain, William Martin, and Frederick Martin were architects in Victorian Birmingham, England. Their names are attributed singly or pairs to many red brick and terracotta buildings, particularly 41 of the forty-odd Birmingham bo ...

tower. The adjacent St Agatha's Church also suffered some damage. Christ Church (consecrated in 1867), on the corner of Dolobran Road and Grantham Road in Sparkbrook, was also damaged and has now been demolished. The

Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...

and

TORRO The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO) was founded by Terence Meaden in 1974. Originally called the Tornado Research Organisation it was expanded in 1982 following the inclusion of the Thunderstorm Census Organisation (TCO) after the d ...

(The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation) estimated that the tornado had a general T4 rating 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 ...

, with a short spell as a T5 tornado, which would indicate wind speeds between , equivalent to an F2 or F3 tornado 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 ...

. There were no fatalities, although there were approximately 19 injuries, three of which were reported to be serious. The tornado uprooted an estimated 1,100 trees, removed the roofs of buildings, picked up and deposited cars and caused other damage during its short existence. The total cost of damage was estimated at £40 million.

Second tornado in October

Three months later, thunderstorms brought a second tornado, which hit less than away from the original twister. The Met Office said there were winds of up to and it was strong enough to rip the roof off a corner house. Following this came widespread flooding across the region which brought havoc to Birmingham.

References

External links

BBC Birmingham SiteBBC Birmingham - Pictures by the publicBirmingham City Council tornado pageThe Balti Triangle Back in Business (photos)

Forward - Birmingham City Council newspaper
ITN News report on the Birmingham tornado https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPtdu6zLh8E {{2005 tornado outbreaks History of Birmingham, West Midlands Tornadoes in the United Kingdom Tornadoes of 2005 Birmingham Tornado, 2005 Weather events in England 2000s in Birmingham, West Midlands Disasters in the West Midlands (county) July 2005 events in the United Kingdom

Background

Effects and damage

Second tornado in October

See also

References

External links