Yahoo Finance London weather: Tornado heralds weekend washout before sizzling 25C heatwave next week
Londoners faced torrential rain and even an tornado on Friday before a 25C heatwave next week.
High winds hit Barking in east London with many residents capturing what looked like a tornado on social media.
Barking and Dagenham police said they were called at around 7.20pm to “reports of damage caused to roofs, electrical equipment, street furniture and vehicles” in what they said was “ a weather related inident, during which there was a lightning strike”.
"There are no reports of any casualties. Officers are liaising with the local authority to ensure support is available to anyone affected by damage to property."
Barking and Dagenham Council tweeted: "We're aware of the severe weather damage in the Barking area and our immediate response team along with the police and fire brigade are on hand sorting any issues."
Our 999 Control Officers took over 250 calls in the #Barking & #Romford areas last night following high winds & heavy rain. Crews responded to a significant amount of flooding incidents, as well as damage to vehicles, buildings & a collapsed manhole cover © @LBBD_LWW pic.twitter.com/qhvBjgjbs3
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) June 26, 2021
Met Office forecaster Matthew Box said "it is probable that a brief tornado did occur".
A series of meteorological conditions are needed to create a tornado, including a funnel of cloud that reaches the ground, and these various factors have not been confirmed by experts.
Mr Box said: "The associated thunderstorms produced some very heavy and impactful rain over parts of north and east London and Essex which did result in flooding and travel disruption."
Some places are likely to have seen more than 40mm of rainfall in an hour.
Mr Box added that none of the Met Office's sites recorded the wind associated with the event, mainly because "it was on a small scale relatively speaking".
He said: "For those affected, there were very damaging winds."
The Met Office had issue a yellow thunderstorm warning on Friday evening which expired at 11pm.
There are about 35 tornadoes on average in the UK each year which would possibly cover "tens to hundreds of metres" and not be on the large scale that you might find in the US, Mr Box said.
The Met Office has predicted a gloomy weekend of rainy weather to set in across the south of the UK and in the capital with cloudy skies expected on Saturday and Sunday.
A ‘sizzling’ July
But after a weekend washout, temperatures are set to skyrocket in London to a glorious 25C.
July has a promising beginning as it’s said to bring sizzling temperatures to the British capital.
Red-hot temperatures will arrive next week as a result of the high pressure from the western and northern Europe.
Heat maps across the UK show highs of almost 30C in July, with London reaching 25C, according to The Sun.
England’s Euro 2020 at Wembley will be met with radiant sunshine and football stars will play in temperatures of 23C.
Temperatures will continue to rise throughout the week over the country.
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