The 1913 United Kingdom tornado outbreak was an outbreak of tornadoes, particularly over England and Wales, on 27 October 1913. The most notable tornadoes occurred in South Wales, where at least two tornadoes had winds of at least . This is equal to an F3 on the

Fujita scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

. One of the tornadoes, at

Edwardsville, Merthyr Tydfil Quakers Yard railway station serves the village of Edwardsville in the community of Treharris, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is located on the Merthyr Tydfil branch of the Merthyr Line. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales. Hist ...

, resulted in 6 deaths and hundreds of injuries. This is the deadliest-known tornado to occur in the United Kingdom. Other notable tornadoes struck in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

and

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

Meteorological background

A rapidly deepening low-pressure

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...

tracked quickly south on the afternoon of 27 October. The central pressure of the system was at midnight on the 27th, deepening to by 18:00. The low pressure helped to sustain a stream of strong southerly winds, as in days previous, sustaining significantly warmer than average conditions. Temperatures were widely reported over in some places. Active weather fronts arriving from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

resulted in the instability needed to cause such tornadoes. The low pressure brought cooler air to the country by the 31st.

Tornadoes

Most intense tornadoes

Other tornadoes

Other tornadoes were reported in England at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, Craypole,

Peckforton Peckforton is a scattered settlement (centred at ) and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The settlement is located to the north east of Malpas and to the west of Nantwich. Th ...

Oundle Oundle () is a market town and civil parish on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 6,254 at the time of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is north of London and south-wes ...

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Collumpton Cullompton () is a town and civil parish in the district of Mid Devon and the county of Devon, England. It is north-east of Exeter and lies on the River Culm. In 2021, the parish as a whole had a population of 10,071, while the built-up area of ...

and

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

. The final tornado of the outbreak was reported at Witcombe Park,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

at around 17:20 on 28 October. A tornado was reported in Scotland at Crathes and in Ireland at

Crosshaven Crosshaven () is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is in lower Cork Harbour at the mouth of the River Owenabue, across from Currabinny Wood, 15 km south-east of the centre of Cork city. Originally a fishing village, from the 19th centu ...

. However, all of these tornadoes were generally weak.

References

{{Weather events in the United Kingdom Tornadoes in the United Kingdom 1913 disasters in the United Kingdom 20th-century tornadoes 1913 meteorology 1913 natural disasters 1913 in England 1913 in Wales Weather events in England F3, EF3 and IF3 tornadoes

Meteorological background

Tornadoes

Most intense tornadoes

Other tornadoes

See also

References