Amidst Storm Ciarán: Strongest tornado in the UK since 1954

A rare tornado that hit Jersey on November 1st has been confirmed as the strongest in almost 70 years.

Storm Ciarán brought devastating winds and heavy rain to much of the UK and Ireland from November 1st - 2nd 2023. On the night of the 1st, a severe thunderstorm developed, which reportedly produced a strong tornado on the eastern part of the island of Jersey.

A site investigation by The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO), supported by Jersey Met, confirmed that an intense tornado did indeed touch down at around midnight, tracking a total distance of 8 km and leaving a path of severe damage in its wake.

TORRO suggest that the intensity of the tornado lands at around T6, stronger than the Birmingham tornado in 2005, placing it as the strongest tornado on record since the Gunnersbury tornado of 1954, which was rated at a T7.

Generally, T6 tornadoes in the UK and Ireland, known as moderately-devastating tornadoes, are pretty rare. The scale runs from T0 to T11, with T8 and above known as violent tornadoes.

In its US scale counterpart, the T6 Jersey tornado equates to an F3 or EF3/EF4, with wind speeds estimated to be between 161 - 186 mph.

Tornadoes as a whole however, tend to happen more often than you may think in the UK and Ireland, with on average, 36 a year reported. However most are small, with only minor damage.