Stalybridge tornado: Man speaks of mother-in-law's escape

Luke Biden said a chimney stack almost fell on his sleeping mother-in-law during the storm

A man has spoken of his mother-in-law's miracle escape the night a tornado tore through his family home.

Luke Biden's property was one of many damaged as winds of up to 160mph swept through villages near Stalybridge in Greater Manchester last month.

A chimney stack fell off the roof, crashed through a skylight and narrowly missed his mother-in-law who was sleeping in the bedroom at the time.

"It's a miracle that no-one was hurt," he said.

A month has passed since the tornado swept through the villages of Millbrook and Carrbrook during Storm Gerrit which damaged about 100 homes across Tameside.

"The tornado felt like a train going through a tunnel and the destruction it left was unbelievable," Mr Biden said.

"We were in denial for a few days afterwards.

"Trees were just blown over everywhere, our cars were both badly damaged, all the fences were gone," he added.

Roofs were ripped off and outbuildings flattened in the storm on 27 December last year

"There were stone slate tiles coming off our roof the size of a cooker hob, pieces of shed were flying across the countryside but no-one was hurt."

Scaffolding can be seen everywhere in the two villages due to the chaos caused when the tornado arrived the night after Boxing Day.

The tornado left a trail of destruction in its wake

Martin Swann's home suffered significant structural damage and he lost a wooden office building.

"I went outside to assess the damage and noticed the car had a slate on it which had totally crushed the bonnet," he said.

"I then noticed that the wooden outdoor office had gone. That made me feel physically sick.

The wooden office block was smashed to pieces by the tornado

"In the lane there was a trampoline up a tree, the greenhouse was smashed underneath some trees, half of my roof tiles were missing, there was just devastation everywhere."

According to an initial assessment by the Tornado & Storm Research Organisation (Torro), the winds reached up to 160mph.

Joyce Bromley, who has kept horses at Hill Top Farm for 35 years, said the tornado blew off a roof from a stone barn and blew away a wooden stable block while the horses were still inside.

Joyce Bromley has been counting the cost of the tornado which destroyed her stables

The animals were not hurt but Ms Bromley had to pay thousands to replace the structure.

"We've replaced wooden stable blocks for 13 horses but its cost £28,000," she said.

"Our insurance has paid out about £12,000 of that but we've had to find the rest.

"It's quite a lot of money but we needed new stables otherwise the horses would've moved elsewhere."