A “mini tornado” struck a Cheshire city, causing damage to property and cars.
Dramatic clips posted on social media showed the devastation caused by the storm: trees and brick walls had fallen and debris had been strewn across a street in Widnes.
The footage also showed the emergency services on site and residents on the street, who inspected the damage.
There are no reports of injuries.
A Cheshire Police Department spokesman said: “At 12.25pm on Wednesday October 20th, police received reports of damage in the Widnes area.
“The damage includes a collapsing wall, smashed car windows and rubble on Camberwell Road.
“There are a number of road closures, including Camberwell Road at the Moorfield intersection.
“The garage on a property in Kensington Close has also been damaged.
“There are no reports of injuries. The damage was reported to the police as being caused by a mini-tornado.”
Torrential rain has also disrupted roads in the Greater Manchester area.
It comes after a yellow weather warning earlier in the week that predicted high winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms.
The Met Office could not confirm whether the weather was a “tornado” but said it could have.
A Met Office spokesman said, “We have seen the images of the destruction caused by high winds, but we have not seen any footage or heard of any reports that anyone actually saw a physical tornado.
“We can only say that the weather conditions today were favorable for the development of tornadoes, we just had a very heavy shower and thunderstorm when the damage occurred.
“So there is definitely the potential that it was a tornado, but we can’t say whether it was definitely or not.”
They gave the forecast for the northwest for the next 24 hours and added, “Today there was some really heavy rainfall in Greater Manchester and Cheshire and also some thunderstorms picture through the rest of today and tomorrow.
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“It should be largely dry tonight, with the possibility of some rain overnight, but not particularly badly.”
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