Kilkeel 'tornado': Homes damaged by County Down storms

A static caravan was turned on to its side by the strong winds

A clean-up operation is under way following reports of a tornado in the Leestone Road area of Kilkeel, County Down.

It occurred during a period of very wet and windy weather on Sunday evening.

Several properties were damaged and a static caravan was toppled along the coastal road.

Kilkeel resident Charlie O'Hare said he and his daughter had been feeding calves when they "noticed the bad weather coming in off the sea".

"All of the animals were running for shelter as we could see a tornado heading towards the house," he told BBC News NI.

Charlie says the wind 'fired' a cattle feeder down a lane

"We ran into the kitchen to get out of its path. It even took down a stone wall in the field. It was very scary.

"If we had been in the field 10 minutes earlier we would have been totally exposed".

Wind gusts reaching close to 100km/h (60mph) were recorded in several nearby locations along the County Down coast during the evening.

Charlie continued: "It ripped tiles off a roof next to us and lifted a cattle feeder - which normally takes two people to lift - off the ground and fired it down a lane".

The gusts removed a number of roof tiles

Nearby resident Mags Butler said Sunday night's weather "sounded like a train coming in".

"Our house is made of wood and it shook. It took up all the garden ornaments and we watched them fly past our window before they all smashed against a wall.

"It also toppled a static mobile home, which we are hoping can be fixed but we're not sure yet."

The 100km/h winds were stong enough to lift concrete blocks from the top of Mags Butler's wall

The entire event was over very quickly.

"It lifted concrete slabs off the top of our wall as if they were made from paper," Mags said.

"It was all over in less than a minute".

David Campbell's sons are building two houses in the area.

"It lifted an oil tank - which didn't have much in it - and blew it straight into a sandpit beside it," he said.

"It was really bad. It blew windows out of the houses, so it's been a bit of a clean-up operation today. It seemed to fizzle out quite quickly but it had some power in it before it left."

This is not the first time there have been reports of a tornado in the coastal town.

One was reported in October 2021, while damage was caused by strong winds in June 2004.