Tornado injures 19 in Birmingham
Nineteen people have been injured - three seriously - as a tornado ripped through the streets of Birmingham.
The sudden storm damaged buildings, uprooted trees and trapped people in their homes. The Met Office estimates the wind speed may have reached 130mph.
One sq km of damage was caused in Kings Heath, with "hundreds" of properties affected, council officials said.
Emergency services are using dogs and specialist equipment to see if anyone has been trapped in damaged buildings.
An ambulance spokesperson said: "The Ambulance Service has removed approximately 20 patients to Heartlands Hospital, Selly Oak Hospital, and Dudley.
"One child was taken to Birmingham Children's' Hospital. None of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening, although three patients were more seriously injured with fractures.
"Numerous casualties have been treated on scene by ambulance crews and medics, many roads are blocked by fallen trees and ambulance staff were running on foot to reach casualties."
West Midlands Fire Service said the areas affected included Kings Heath, Moseley, Quinton, Balsall Heath and Sparkbrook.
'Frightened children'
Caroline Ward, from the Jon Carrie Nursery in Moseley, said the tornado ripped out fences and toys were whipped into the air.
"Luckily we got the children all inside but they were very frightened," she told BBC News.
Julia Banner, who works in a care home in Moseley, said: "All of a sudden it got dark, the front door blew open and all the notices blew off the notice board.
"The kitchen window was open and all the crockery smashed to the floor.
"It all happened in just a couple of minutes. There is a tree through a car and trees on houses - it looks like something from a film set."
A Met Office spokesperson said: "From the reports we have heard we would estimate that this is a tornado with a rating of T3-T4, that would mean it had wind speeds of between 93-114 mph for T3 and 114-130 for T4.
"A typical description would be that motorcars were lifted and destroyed, roofs removed from buildings and weak buildings destroyed.
"We have an average of 33 reports of tornadoes in the UK each year but these are especially rare in built-up areas and there has not been one of this strength in many years.
"City centres are not the natural habitat of a tornado; the tall buildings would normally stop their formation."
