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 death of its founder Morris Bower and his wife. The current Head of TORRO is Paul Knightley, a professional meteorologist. TORRO comprises nearly 400 members in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and others from around the world, from amateurs to professional meteorologists, and almost 30 staff. TORRO maintains a large storm spotter network throughout the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

and collects and records reports of severe weather. TORRO carries out research on many aspects of severe weather including

ball lightning Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is reported to last ...

blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...

s & heavy snowfall, coastal impacts, hailstorms,

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

impacts,

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 ...

es,

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 some ...

s, weather disasters, and weather & health. Tornadoes in the UK are classified using the

T-scale T gauge (1:450 or 1:480) is a Rail transport modelling, model railway scale with a track gauge of , referred from "Three-millimeter gauge" or "Third of N scale". It was introduced at the Tokyo Toy Show in 2006 by KK Eishindo of Japan, and went o ...

. TORRO has also developed a hailstorm intensity scale. TORRO publishes the semi-professional periodical the ''

International Journal of Meteorology The ''International Journal of Meteorology'' is a bimonthly science magazine on meteorology and severe weather, particularly that of the United Kingdom and Europe. It is a semi-professional non-profit publication with a mix of academic and amateur ...

'' (IJMet) which is composed of a mixture of academic and amateur articles. TORRO tornado watches and warnings are now released to the public via the TORR
forecast page
the TORRO forum, the TORRO Facebook page, and the UKweatherworld weather forum. Bi-annual conferences are held, usually in March and October. Details of the next conference can be found on the mai
TORRO website
At these, various presentations are given on all aspects of weather, especially severe weather. In the Spring conference, the staff present annual reviews of the previous year's severe weather, and severe weather forecasts. These are also published in the IJMet.

References

External links

Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO)

European Storm Forecast Experiment (ESTOFEX)

European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL)

TorDACH

Skywarn Europe
Scientific organisations based in the United Kingdom 1974 establishments in the United Kingdom Scientific organizations established in 1974 Severe weather and convection Meteorological organizations {{Climate-stub

See also

References

External links