With the amount of media coverage dedicated to American storm-chasers, you'd think the US had the monopoly on these twisters. It doesn't. It might come as a shock, but the United Kingdom is actually the world's most tornado-prone nation.
This fact was calculated by the late Dr Fujita of Chicago University. He devised the standard method of measuring tornado intensity. Fujita figured that since Britain has an average of 33 tornadoes every year in an area 38 times smaller than the USA, you're twice as likely to witness a tornado here.
The main organisation which monitors Tornadoes in the UK is Torro (www.toro.org.uk)
Here is their definition of a tornado:
A tornado is a violent rotating column of air that reaches to the ground from a storm cloud in the shape of a condensation funnel created and maintained by strong inflowing winds. The spinning winds can attain extremely high speeds which provide great risk to property and life at the ground and in the air.
If you want to go storm chasing in the UK and see pictures and information about tornadoes in your area, visit www.stormchasers.co.uk.
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