Well, blow me down! (From Barry And District News)

Well, blow me down!

BARRY'S coastline was battered last weekend by a tornado that ripped up the Bristol Channel.

The 2,000ft-high tornado was spotted off the south Wales coast on Sunday.

Onlookers said the sky went dark and the sea level rose as the tornado made its way up the coast at around 1.10pm.

It began as a waterspout, a column of water rising over the sea, before sweeping inland.

It did not cause any damage and died out after 20 minutes.

A forecaster from the Meteorological Office's headquarters said such phenomena were "far from unusual", with between 50 and 100 tornadoes and waterspouts in and around the UK each year.

Dr Anthony Harris, who lives near the beach at Sully in the Vale of Glamorgan, said it was a dramatic sight.

He said: "It went very dark, like night. There were hailstones and the sea gushed up.

"This huge black cloud came across and to me it was identical to a tornado as I have seen one before."

The phenomena prompted forecasters to warn that more gales would hit Wales during the week.

Weather reports predicted heavy storms expected to arrive on Monday evening with severe gales over southern Britain bringing gusts of 60-70mph.

The Met Office's shipping forecast has predicted gale force eight to storm 10 conditions in the area.

Met Office chief forecaster Eddy Carroll said: "After the recent spell of bad weather, we are advising the public to expect stormy conditions, which could cause structural damage and localised flooding."

People are being urged to ring Floodline on 0845 988 1188 for up-to-date flooding information.