Britain is suffering the consequences of climate change with severe flooding now becoming commonplace but what no one had expected was the tornado which ripped through Surrey on Saturday, flipping cars and vans, pulling off roof tiles and leaving uprooted trees strewn across gardens.

The Met Office confirmed a tornado had struck the Chertsey area.

Crews were called around 10:30am on Saturday “to a high wind incident affecting a number of houses in the Chertsey area”, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement.

Surrey police said they attended the scene with the fire service to “ensure the public’s safety”.

Chertsey resident Verity Boultwood said the tornado blew the roof off her conservatory.

“In the past it has withstood bad weather,” she said. “One of my neighbours has smashed windows. Trampolines have flown across the gardens here.”

Fellow resident Philip Passey said he froze when he saw the tornado, which he thought lasted about 40 seconds.

He described the scene: “The leaves were going horizontal. I said, ‘That looks like a tornado.’ There was a huge roar, then nothing.

“A trampoline lifted up in the air, like it weighed nothing, and was thrown across the garden. My daughter came downstairs and said the shed roof had gone.

“One shed has disappeared; one blown apart, one has no roof on it. My son said there was a tree across the garden, two cars have been written off. In the farm across the road, we heard a dog broke his leg.”

Many parts of England are under water because of non-stop rain this month.

Ninety-four flood warnings and 232 less severe flood alerts are in place across England, and the Environment Agency said flood defences had been erected in a number of areas. A section of the M23 motorway from London to Brighton has been flooded.

Doug Wilson, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Environment Agency teams have put up temporary flood defences in a number of locations including Bradford on Avon, Leatherhead, Guildford and Canterbury. Pumping continues at Saltmoor and Northmoor in Somerset to lower levels in the River Tone and the flood barrier at Leigh, in Kent, is operating. Staff are working around the clock to help keep people safe.”