Yesterday’s storm in Aber was pretty bad, but experts say it definitely wasn’t a tornado

We spoke to a guy from the Met Office


Aberystwyth was hit by some mental weather yesterday morning. Leaves, pine needles, branches were whirling around in gusts of wind, tearing off roofs, uprooting trees, damaging cars and smashing glass doors with plastic chairs. Exactly what we needed on a Thursday at 10.30 am.

No one was hurt, lectures were cancelled, staff and students were asked to go home. I understand your excitement, Aberystwyth. We’re an idyllic town with objectively gorgeous views as a main form of entertainment and very little crime. When there’s trees falling down, roads closed, and lectures cancelled – there’s a reason to be delighted. But can we please stop calling this adverse weather a tornado?

It was not a tornado. I was there, watching a tree say “hello” to the ground. It was some fucking strong wind, but it wasn’t a tornado.

The Met Office had a briefing this morning, after the UK’s top meteorologists had got together to work out what really happened.

A spokesman from the Met Office told The Tab: “After analysing what happened yesterday, our meteorologists have confirmed that it was a linear feature around 20 or 30 kilometres wide. It was straight line winds, not a tornado, confirmed by our chief meteorologist. There were ‘little rotational features’ but the wind was linear.

“I think there were suggestions on Twitter but the analysis confirmed that it indeed was not a tornado, but was linear winds with few rotational components.

“The damage caused seems to have been due to high wind speeds.

“We issued a yellow warning for wind yesterday along that 30km corridor it tracked. Some may call it a storm – the distinct definition is subjective.”

NOT A TORNADO.

This has gotten so far that a weather presenter Laura Tobin from ITV’s Good Morning Britain has tweeted about it, saying that there’s reports of a tornado in Aberystwyth.

No, Laura. These aren’t actual reports, it’s just an overly excited Aberystwyth residents clutching at straws to be entertained.

But wait! Now the Telegraph and Wales Online reported that a tornado’s been running wild in Aberystwyth, flattening caravans. And there’s more, BBC has just reported tornadoes in Wales and Midlands and asking for stories from those ‘affected by the tornadoes’.

Let’s be clear, a tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from thunderstorm clouds to the ground in a funnel shape. Nobody has seen those. Here are some photos of tornadoes from from the National Severe Storms Laboratory‘s storm intercept slide archive.

THIS is a tornado

Our recent exciting whether showed how many people don’t know what a tornado is.

Wake up, sheeple!