A massive clean-up operation is underway in the British midlands after a freak tornado left a trail of destruction injuring 20 people yesterday.
The twister ripped through south Birmingham stripping houses of their roofs, uprooting hundreds of trees and knocking down walls.
Witnesses saw the winds lift cars and turn street signs and masonry into missiles when the tornado hit the city.
The Sparkbrook, Balsall Heath, Moseley and Kings Heath areas were worst hit and West Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed that it had treated 20 patients, including three with serious injuries.
West Midlands Fire Service declared a "major incident" after deploying 15 appliances to a one-square-kilometre area where hundreds of buildings were damaged - many losing their entire roofs.
A section of the city's so-called Balti Belt - which centres on Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook - resembled a war zone, with fruit, glass, masonry, tyres and furniture littering the streets.
Eyewitness Brian Cassidy saw the rain slanting sideways and revealed how he joked to a friend: "In America you got a hurricane after this."
Mr Cassidy, who was walking to a shop in Ladypool Road, said he then noticed the wind picking up and jumped into his friend's car and watched as the tornado passed over.
The freak winds also affected the Moseley area of the city and large trees had been felled on the border between Kings Heath and Moseley.
According to the Met Office, tornadoes are not uncommon in Britain, but are rarely as severe as yesterday's.
The damage was estimated to run into millions of pounds and the clean-up operation may take several days.