Shock as suspected tornado causes damage to homes in coastal village

People living in a coastal Hampshire village woke up to a trail of destruction on Friday after a suspected tornado ripped through a number of streets last night.

It struck the village of Barton-on-Sea, blowing down fences and trees, ripping tiles off of roofs and causing havoc.

A number of streets were affected, with one resident's six foot high brick wall blown down.

Dave Thorne lives in the village and described being woken up by a massive crashing noise.

His bedroom windows cracked and all his garden fence panels have been blown away and smashed.

Dave has described it as "very scary indeed," though luckily no-one was hurt.

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

They form in very unsettled weather conditions as part of severe thunderstorms.

A tornado will typically last for a few minutes, track across the land for 2 to 5km.