Tornado Hits Chobham, Surrey, Lifting Cats in Air

A "mini-tornado" in Chobham, Surrey, lifted local cats "six feet in the air", an eyewitness has said.

Locals residents said the windstorm hit the area at about 5pm on Saturday, bringing down trees and damaging property.

The storm also swept through neighbouring Kent and Sussex.

A spokesman from Valgrays Animal Rescue in Warlingham said: "It was like something out of a Steven Spielberg film."

Shirley Blay, who keeps horses at the Jolly Blossom Stables on Station Road, Chobham, told BBC Surrey: "It was a mini-tornado, I can't describe it as anything less.

"It started with very heavy rain, hailstones and very strong wind and all of a sudden, the wind was very, very strong, to the point of lifting roofs.

"Stable roofs were shaking and lifting and my granddaughter went to make a feed up for the pony and the shed she was in lifted.

"She jumped out of it and it just shattered, it was thrown backwards and broke into four pieces.

"We've got four feral cats in the yard and they were being lifted off the ground - about six feet off the ground - they just went round like a big paper bag."

She added that the people and animals caught up in the storm were uninjured.

Around 13,000 customers were left without electricity in Kent, Sussex and Surrey after storms on Saturday.

UK Power Networks said the number had been "significantly reduced" on Sunday but around1,100 customers were still affected.

East and West Sussex fire crews took dozens of weather-related calls on Saturday afternoon and early evening.

Surrey Fire and Rescue also said many callers reported fallen trees and damaged roofs across the county.

Steve Wyles, from Hunton in Kent, said: "A mini-tornado hit us at just after 5.15pm.

"It lasted less than five minutes but it brought down power cables and lifted the roof off an 80ft by 20ft barn over an oak tree and dumped it 70ft away in a field.

"As the wind hit I had the front door open and it was too strong for me to close it.

"We had an impromptu fire display from the power cables that lasted several hours and we are aware of at least one dog that was electrocuted by stepping in a puddle."

Laura Gilchrist from the BBC Weather Centre said: "Eye witness descriptions and photos of the damage suggest that an isolated small tornado could well have occurred in Chobham, however without an expert visiting the site or footage or photos of the tornado itself, it cannot currently be confirmed that a tornado was responsible."