Gateshead motorist films 'tornado' hitting parked car

A motorist has filmed what appears to be a tornado winding through a car park before hitting her vehicle.

Lucy Lyon felt "very lucky" to have captured the phenomenon in Lobley Hill, Gateshead, at about 13:55 BST on Friday.

BBC weather forecaster Jen Bartram said it was "likely to be a weak tornado" and Ms Lyon's footage was "especially rare".

She said there are between 10 and 20 tornadoes reported in the UK each year.

Ms Bartram said storm-chasers she has consulted "can't say with 100% certainty" it is a tornado "as we can't see the top of it coming down from the cloud".

She said: "We can't see if it's reaching right up to the cloud, which would make it a tornado, or if it originates from the ground and doesn't go all the way up which would make it a dust devil.

"Either way it's exciting footage. As they're quite fleeting and short-lived, it's fairly rare to get them captured on camera like this.

"It's especially rare to get the ground motion captured."