2031 Birmingham tornado (Layten)

**2031 Birmingham tornado (Layten)**

The strongest officially recorded tornado in the British Isles, this tornado narrowly missed an F5 rating on the Fujita - Pearson tornado damage scale, and wreaked havoc in Birmingham, England over its entire lifetime, killing 148, injuring hundreds more, and causing £3.2 billion in damages.

## Meteorological synopsis

The morning of August 27th, 2031 was one of the most unpleasantly humid recorded in the West Midlands of England, UK. Dew points reached 22C, and a warm front began to collide with an anticyclonic area of high pressure, leading to atmospheric instability, which allowed for severe thunderstorms to be able to develop by 1pm. By 2:30 pm, the Birmingham supercell had formed over the nearby Stourbridge, with instability values at 4700J/kg. Over the following few hours, 3 tornadoes touched down in Birmingham, which were rated F0, F1 and F4, causing havoc and disruption to any local populations impacted by the storms.

A funnel cloud was first seen near Druids Heath, Birmingham, at 4:33 pm, which began to slowly descend to the ground.
Touchdown occurred at 4:39 pm, the tornado touched down at the bottom of the High-street, causing F1 damages at the start of the damage path, where a car was blown off the road, and crashed into a bus shelter at 4:40 pm.
As the tornado continued to move up the main High-street, it strengthened into an T4/F2, ripping roofs off buildings, and developing a debris cloud. Any buildings hit had their windows smashed as the tornado passed those locations, and several people were injured by glass projectiles.
Rapid intensification continued, and the tornado reached T6/F3 status on the Kings Heath - Mosley borough line at 4:44 pm, ripping entire walls off of their originating houses, whilst roofs were demolished off the buildings that took direct hits.
At 4:50 pm, the tornado reached the outer limits of the Birmingham City Centre, and the first areas of F4 damage were noted soon after this point was passed. A building was partially swept from its foundation, with the remaining pieces of the ruined building scattered close by. This was later judged to be down to a poor foundation quality. Cars in the areas close by were also thrown up to 12 metres from their points of origin.
The tornado passed the Bull Ring Shopping Centre at 4:57pm, severely bending the metal support structures on the building, and smashing every window whilst it passed overhead.
Possible T10/F5 damage was also noted outside of the building, where a 2.5 tonne steel bull was ripped from the brick pavement outside, and thrown up to 600 metres from its point of origin, landing halfway down New Street, killing 1 person, and seriously injuring 2 more.
Inside the Bull Ring itself, 312 people were injured, and 5 killed during the passage of the ferocious tornado.
As the tornado approached New Street, it began to weaken, and by the time it arrived at New Street, it had been reduced to T4/F2 strength, which puzzled scientists, because all of the conditions present were of usefulness to tornadogenesis (wind shear and another funnel being absorbed, in this case).
Nonetheless, the storm carried on weakening as it tracked down New Street, causing T3/F1 damage to buildings on the main Street, scattering bins, and generally causing a nuisance to local shoppers at the time of the tornadoes occurrence at 5:01 pm.
At 5:10 pm, the tornado weakened to T0/F0 strength, ripping away shop signs as it neared the Palisades Shopping Centre as it passed. The tornado finally lifted at 5:12 pm, after causing 148 deaths, injuring hundreds more, and causing £3.2 billion in damages.

## Impact

The Birmingham tornado of August 27, 2031 was the deadliest, most costliest in British history, changing Birmingham forever. During the tornadoes, 148 people died, hundreds were injured, and £3.2 billion in damages were caused, mostly by the T9/F4 tornado that hit the Birmingham Bull Ring. After the catastrophic T9/F4 tornado in Birmingham City Centre, a new law was passed, which stated that all new buildings must have an inbuilt storm cellar, and be able to withstand winds of at least 300 mph.

## Records

The outbreak was the costliest and deadliest to have ever occurred in British history, as well as producing the most violent tornado in British history, having being rated T9 (high end F4).

## Rating disputes

The Kings Heath - New Street T9/F4 tornado is listed as a possible T10/F5 by many tornado experts, having ripped a 2.5 tonne steel bull sculpture from a brick pavement, and then thrown it at least 600 metres from where it originated outside of the Bull Ring Shopping Centre.

## New TORRO scale

Following the rebuilding of Birmingham city centre, the TORRO scale, which is a British version of the Enhanced Fujita scale, was also upgraded to become the Enhanced TORRO scale (ET scale)