Freak Tornado Rips Through Irish Village

A small Irish village faced the wrath of a rare and powerful ‘mini-tornado’ on a seemingly ordinary Sunday.

On Sunday, December 10, the quiet village of Leitrim was thrown into chaos by a sudden tornado at 12:40 pm. Paddy Farrell, a town councillor, narrowly escaped the heart of the storm. ‘I was actually driving through the village myself,’ recounted Mr Farrell.

‘If I was a second slower I’d have been in the brunt of it. I was driving my Jeep. It sounded as if there was a crowd pegging stones at my Jeep as I was driving through, with all the debris flying around,’ he concluded, writes Xtra.ie

Unforeseen Devastation

The tornado’s impact was swift and severe. Rooftops were torn from structures, and numerous buildings sustained significant damage. ‘There was a roof taken off a building, and several buildings damaged,’ Farrell continued. ‘Even on fairly new apartments there was damage. I think the window blew in on one of them. There could be 10-20 cars damaged.’

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, though two people suffered minor ones. ‘I was actually shook when I came home because it was frightening,’ Farrell added.

Aftermath And Recovery

Leitrim County Council reported the incident on Twitter/X: ‘Due to the tornado that impacted #LeitrimVillage today, the R280 road through the village remains closed until further notice.’ they later added: ‘Public advised that no persons have been seriously injured.’

Witnesses reported a ‘roaring noise’ and saw trees being uprooted. The tornado left a trail of destruction, damaging houses, vehicles, and uprooting the natural landscape. Emergency services swiftly responded, and surrounding businesses had to shut down temporarily.

Meteorologist Liz Walsh from Met Eireann explained the phenomenon. ‘Often it’s caused by the change in wind direction up in the cloud, that can cause rotation and you can get funnel clouds, or tornados if they hit the ground.’ She confirmed the likelihood of a tornado, exacerbated by Storm Fergus‘ unstable conditions.