Tornadoes in Scotland

Scotland is well known for having bad weather; snow, wind, heavy rain, and thunderstorms are common, but what about more extreme weather events like tornadoes?

What is a tornado?

A tornado is a rotating column of air that appears like a funnel emerging from the clouds and touching the ground. Tornados form when warm, humid air clashes with cold, dry air, typically during thunderstorms. Sometimes the warm air rising through the cold air will cause an updraft, and the swirling air will keep sucking up warm air from the ground, spiralling faster and faster, forming the tornado.

Tornados are measured on the Fujita Scale with the numbers F0 for least severe to F5 for most severe or the Torro Scale T0 to T11.

Are there tornadoes in Scotland?

Generally, there are no tornadoes in Scotland. For the everyday Scot, there is no worry about the dangers of tornados, no dedicated shelters and no warning system in place.

There have been some fairly small weak tornados in recent years, but nothing too destructive or dangerous to human life. A tornado is a highly unusual weather event for Scotland, especially occurrences with any destructive power.

For many Scots, their first example of a tornado was seen in the Wizard of Oz motion picture (1939); at least, that's my earliest memory of a tornado!

Bonnyrigg WaterSpout Tornado

On the 7th of September 2022, a waterspout tornado was spotted in Scotland over the town of Bonnyrigg in Midlothian. A weather warning was issued for north eastern Scotland as heavy rain and thunderstorms swept parts of the area.

Stuart Kennedy from Elgin High School in Moray is quoted as saying:

Tornadoes don’t just happen in Kansas. With the right conditions, even in Scotland, can produce them.

No damage was recorded as a result of this tornado, and no one was hurt, but the tornado received significant media attention due to its rarity.

In more recent times, Scotland had a Tornado warning on the 21st of January 2024, during storm Isha, the only warning I have ever seen.

What is a waterspout tornado?

Waterspouts are a type of tornado that forms over open water. Although called waterspouts, they do not suck up water and are generally weaker than land-based tornadoes. Waterspouts are often seen off the coast of Anglesey, Wales. The one appearing in Bonnyrigg, Scotland, was considered very rare, please see it in the video below.

Snow Tornado

A rare "snow tornado" was witnessed by a crofter on Shetland while feeding his sheep on the 7th of March 2023. A video can be seen here.

When was the most powerful tornado in Scotland?

A tornado occurred in September 1767 near Blairgowrie, which was estimated to be a T6 on the Torro Scale - the most severe tornado Scotland has experienced in recorded history.

The strange thing about this tornado is that it was said to be illuminated, perhaps through some electrical phenomenon or just from water being pulled up into the funnel. The tornado eventually dissipated but destroyed the arch of a bridge at Blairgowrie.

Has there ever been a big tornado in the UK?

Amazingly an average of 36 tornados are reported annually in the United Kingdom. Still, the number may be higher as tornados are usually only reported if infrastructure damage occurs.

2005 Birmingham Tornado

In July 2005, an F2 class tornado formed over the city of Birmingham. Striking at 14.30, it carved a 7km path of destruction through many areas of the city, including Sparkbrook, King's Heath, Moseley and Balsall Heath.

Although classed as a fairly strong tornado at F2/T4 respectively on the scale systems, there were no fatalities, but 19 injuries were logged. The damage caused to the city was estimated to be around £40 million.

1981 Tornado Outbreak

In 1981 there were a record-breaking 104 confirmed tornadoes across Wales and parts of central, eastern and northern England within only 5 hours and 26 minutes. Most of these tornadoes were relatively weak, but some intensified to F2 and damaged hundreds of properties. Thankfully there were no fatalities.

1666 Tornado

This tornado is said to have been the most powerful the UK has ever experienced at Welbourn, Lincolnshire. Many homes were destroyed, and sadly at least three children died. The tornado caused 5 km of carnage, and the track measured 200 m in width.

Where do most tornadoes occur in the UK?

Most occur in England from around York to the south coast. West England and the southwest of London are particular hot spots. South Wales, from Swansea to Bristol in England, has historically had regular tornados too.

Tornados are much rarer in Scotland.

Does Scotland have any natural disasters?

Scotland gets off very lightly in terms of natural disasters.

The Great Glen Fault line runs through Scotland from the east coast to the west coast (also the route of the Caledonian Canal), but there have only ever been very mild tremors and no substantial earthquakes in the last 100 years. The last earthquake on the Great Glen Fault was a magnitude five quake in September 1901.

The only real natural disasters Scotland has to put up with are heavy rain/flooding and high winds, but no natural disasters on the same scale as tornados, tsunamis or earthquakes.

Conclusion

So there we have it, Scotland does get tornados, but they are weak and non-damaging. So if you're coming from central North America, you won't have to worry about tornadoes in Scotland!