Tornado hits London

Six injured as tornado hits London street

Last Updated: 1:21pm GMT 07/12/2006

Send your pictures of the tornado to mypics@telegraph.co.uk Six people have been injured after a small tornado tore through a residential street in London today, damaging several buildings and cars. One man in his 50s was taken to hospital with a head injury and five people were treated at the scene for minor injuries and shock. Video footage from a helicopter flying above the street showed part of the side of a house had collapsed, partially covering a car parked outside. The footage shown on Sky News also pictured several houses which had lost roof tiles, including one house where almost the entire roof had been peeled away. Police were alerted to the "mini tornado" in Harlesden, north west London, at around 11am, a Scotland Yard spokesman said. A number of buildings and cars and were damaged in what one resident described as "some sort of cyclone". Scotland Yard said the tornado had passed but that the London Fire Brigade and Ambulance Service were still at the scene on Chamberlayne Road in Kensal Rise, which is currently closed. Tim Klotz, who works in entertainment and film and has recently moved to the street, said it happened right in front of his house. Mr Klotz said: "It was like some sort of cyclone. I was actually in an attic room working at my desk on the computer and there was heavy rain and sleet and then the wind just really changed. "I looked up through a skylight and debris was falling through the air. I heard what seemed like large, clay dominoes falling, which I think were roof tiles." The 34-year-old, who is originally from New York, said it then went "a bit dark" so he went downstairs and heard a smash at the front of his house. He said: "My house was very lucky because there was only a broken window and some damaged roof tiles but another house had its roof peeled off and fences had come down along the street. "It was right in front of my house. I must have been right in the middle of it. There are police and fire services here now but I cannot see any fires. A few people are shaken up but there is no sign of anyone actually injured." A spokesman for weather forecaster MeteoGroup said a band of strong storms came through, with Heathrow Airport recording gusts of 48 knots (55mph). He said: "That is quite squally so residential areas might have had gusts of up to 60mph. "It still seems to be very localised so it is either what is called a micro burst - a strong down-burst of wind - or a tornado, which is when the wind goes up."