'Carnage' as mini tornado tears through village

A mini tornado has left a trail of destruction in a Cornish village, according to residents.

Some properties in Quintrell Downs near Newquay have lost parts of their roofs and trees have been blown down, they said.

Eyewitnesses said the winds only lasted for seconds but had caused major damage - one local garage suffered damage to eight cars.

Cheryl Foers, who lives in Quintrell Gardens, said: "It was a freak, everything was twirling in the air, plant pots and so forth."

Dozens of houses were badly damaged by the mini tornado

She said: "A light breeze started then a strong wind, then literally from nowhere a tornado ripped through.

"There were trees uprooted, it just came through in five or 10 seconds.

"It's just left carnage, there's at least at least seven or eight roofs that are almost missing, chimney pots affected, trees uprooted, it was very dangerous and then the tornado just went off across the fields."

There were also reports of caravans at Holywell Bay being damaged at a holiday park.

Trevornick Holiday Park said on Facebook there had been "some damage" in a "very isolated area of the park" and a clean up operation is under way.

One woman said the winds caused plant pots to twirl in the air

The winds hit between 09:30 and 09:45 GMT, according to weather maps.

Ms Foers said "it felt as if the house was being lifted".

"It was just the noise, all the roofs went simultaneously," she added.

"We've lost part of our roof but no-one's injured which is the main thing."

The tornado smashed car windows in Quintrell Downs

One witness said she felt as though her house was being "lifted"

Ms Foers said residents were helping each other to make temporary repairs and clear the roads from debris.

A yellow warning for wind is in force for Cornwall and part of Devon until 18:00.

Cornwall Council is advising people to avoid the area if possible and take "extreme caution" if they need to access a property.

Jo Rance, an affected resident, told BBC Radio Cornwall she witnessed roof tiles "flying off through the windows".

She said: "It felt like all the windows were all going to come through, the next thing I just heard this almighty crashing and smashing.

"The back of all our tiles have all come off, so our whole garden is just like a scene from some sort of devastation movie."

Ms Rance added: "It was really scary. I thought the roof was going to collapse.

"I've never experienced anything like it in my life."

Jo Rance said her garden looked like "some sort of devastation movie"

Around 30 tornadoes a year are reported in the UK.

These are typically small and very short-lived but can cause structural damage if they pass over built-up areas.

A tornado typically has the form of a twisting funnel-shaped cloud between the cloud base and the ground.

Mini tornadoes can appear as a slender rope-like form of grey cloud extending to the surface or just above but in the UK they are often almost invisible, observable by the debris thrown up from the surface and swirled around.

More than 32mm fell in an hour in the Newquay area

Tornadoes typically spin anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere (cyclonically) and are often formed along very active cold fronts where there is enough temperature difference from one side of the front to the other creating the relevant vorticity (spin) dragging strong winds from aloft down to the surface.

They are also associated with intense downpours of rain visible on the radar rainfall imagery, clearly an area of very heavy rain.

More than 32mm fell in an hour in the Newquay area.