Damage caused by the Birmingham tornado

The Birmingham Tornado was one of the strongest tornadoes recorded in the United Kingdom in nearly 30 years, occurring on 28 July 2005 in the suburbs of Birmingham. It formed on a day when strong tornadoes were expected to develop across the Midlands and eastern England. The tornado struck at approximately 2.30pm BST in the Sparkbrook area of the city, also affecting King's Heath, Moseley and Balsall Heath as it carved a kilometre-long path through the city. Its main effects were felt in the Ladypool Road which bore the brunt of the damage. Ladypool Primary School was extensively damaged and lost its distinctive Martin & Chamberlain tower. The adjacent St Agatha's Church also suffered some damage. Christ Church (consecrated 1867), on the corner of Dolobran Road and Grantham Road in Sparkbrook was also damaged and has now been demolished.^[1][2] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 1. ... For other uses of Tornado, see Tornado (disambiguation). ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Time zones of Europe: Light colours indicate countries not observing daylight saving British Summer Time (BST) is the changing of the clocks in effect in the United Kingdom and Irish Summer Time (IST) in Republic of Ireland between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October each... Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency shown within Birmingham Sparkbrook is an area in south-east Birmingham, England. ... Kings Heath is a suburb of Birmingham, England , three miles south of the city centre on the Alcester road. ... Moseley village green Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, located 2 miles to the south of the city centre. ... Balsall Heath is a working class, inner-city area of Birmingham, England. ... km redirects here. ... Ladypool School, Sparkhill Ladypool Primary School is a primary school on Stratford Road in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, England. ... Typical Martin & Chamberlain exposed iron supports for the steep roofs of Birmingham School of Art, England, (1893-5). ... St Agatha, Sparkbrook The Church of St Agatha (grid reference SP086847) is in Sparkbrook in Birmingham, England. ...

The Met Office and TORRO (The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation) has estimated that the tornado had a general T4 rating on the TORRO scale with a short spell as a T5 tornado, which would mean wind speeds between 93 and 130 mph, equivalent to an F2 on the Fujita scale. The new building on the edge of Exeter The Met Office (originally an abbreviation for Meteorological Office, but now the official name in itself), which has its headquarters at Exeter in Devon, is the United Kingdoms national weather service. ... The TORRO tornado intensity scale (or T-Scale) is a scale measuring tornado intensity between T0 and T10. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ... The Fujita scale (F-Scale), or Fujita-Pearson scale, rates a tornados intensity by the damage it inflicts on human-built structures and sometimes on vegetation. ...

There were no fatalities, although there were approx. 30 injuries, three of which were reported to be serious. The tornado uprooted an estimated 1000 trees, removed the roofs of buildings, picked up and deposited cars and caused other damage during its short existence. The total cost of damage has been put at £40 million, making it the most costly tornado in British history.

While the United Kingdom has more reported tornados, relative to its land area, than any other country excluding the Netherlands, the vast majority are weak. The strongest recorded tornado in the country struck Portsmouth on December 14, 1810 with a T8 rating and a top wind speed of 213 to 240 mph. For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation). ... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Second tornado

Three months later, strong winds and driving rain brought a second tornado, which hit less that a mile away from the original twister. The Met Office said there were winds of up to 80mph and it was strong enough to rip the roof off a corner house. Following this came widespread flooding across the region which brought havoc to Birmingham. A tornado in central Oklahoma. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ...

See also

• List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
  • List of European tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• Climate of the United Kingdom
• UK topics

// Tornado Events These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred around the globe. ... Parent article: List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness. ... The current climate of the United Kingdom is classified as temperate, with warm summers, cool winters and plentiful precipitation throughout the year. ... This is a list of topics related to the United Kingdom. ...

References

1. ^ Indymedia UK - After the tornado: "market forces" force demolition of Sparkbrook Church
2. ^ Ecclesiastical Law Society

External links

• BBC Birmingham Site
• BBC Birmingham - Pictures by the public
• Birmingham City Council tornado page
• The Balti Triangle Back in Business (photos)
• Forward - Birmingham City Council newspaper
• Pogus Caesar /OOM Gallery Archive - Birmingham Tornado 2005 (291 photos) + video footage