Storm Ciarán: Was Jersey hit by a tornado?

A rare red "threat to life" alert was issued by Jersey and Guernsey Met Offices when Storm Ciarán hit the Channel Islands.

It brought with it "violent storm force 11" winds, high tides, hail stones, flooding and significant rainfall.

Some weather watchers have suggested Jersey was hit by a tornado, but what does that mean?

Is Storm Ciarán a tornado?

Wind speeds hit highs of 104mph in Jersey, tornadoes typically reach wind speeds of 75mph to 100mph.

But, it's not just high winds that are needed to meet the threshold for a storm to qualify as a tornado.

The Met Office defines a tornado as: "A rapidly rotating column of air that reaches between the base of a storm cloud and the Earth's surface."

Meteorologists are reporting that a tornado was recorded overnight in Jersey.

The Met Office says tornados typically occur in North America, but around 30 a year are reported in the UK.

What is the difference between a tornado and a hurricane?

A hurricane is a type of storm called a tropical cyclone which develops over tropical or subtropical waters.

To qualify as a hurricane it needs to produce a constant wind speed of over 73mph, which is force 12 on the Beaufort scale.

Shipping forecasts in the middle of the Channel did forecast Hurricane Force 12 overnight on Wednesday 2 November and in the early hours of Thursday 2 November.

Storm Ciarán did bring gusts of over 100mph, however, it's thought these weren't sustained enough to qualify for hurricane status.

Also, the waters over which it travelled before passing across the Channel Islands and finally reaching the UK weren't tropical or subtropical, which means it wasn't named as a hurricane.

Want to find out more about the stories making the headlines? Don't miss Channelcast - the Channel Islands current affairs podcast brought to you by ITV News: