PARTS of the South coast may have experienced tornadoes over the weekend, according to the Met Office.

Gusts of more than 60mph were recorded across Sussex on Sunday, with further strong winds and rain expected.

A yellow weather warning was issued across parts of the UK, including the South Coast, amid a storm from the Atlantic Ocean that caused minor flooding and blew over several trees.

Meteorologist Tom Morgan said the Met Office could not confirm whether any tornadoes had occurred, but would not rule them out.

“We’ve got a deep Atlantic area of low pressure that’s bringing a very heavy band of rain and squalling winds across the whole of the country, but particularly in the south of England,” he said.

“We’ve seen some very strong gusts of wind on the south coast, and a few reports of damage from the winds.

“It’s not out of the question that there will have been some localised, brief funnel clouds or tornadoes.

“In the last couple of days, we have seen some reports and seen some photos of funnel clouds and water spouts, which are similar to tornadoes.”

According to the Met Office, tornadoes occur when funnel clouds extend from the cloud base to ground.

Wind speeds of 87mph were recorded at an exposed location on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, while Sussex experienced gusts of 60mph.

“We can’t confirm that there have been any [tornadoes] but we have seen reports of wind damage,” the meteorologist added.

“This kind of situation does lend itself to sometimes producing tornadoes so it’s something we can’t rule out and there is some evidence to suggest there have been some.”

The Argus: Fallen tree outside Hove Town Hall (left) and tree down outside Black Rabbit pub in Arundel Fallen tree outside Hove Town Hall (left) and tree down outside Black Rabbit pub in Arundel

As a result of the high winds, a tree fell on the Black Rabbit pub in Arundel, which caused minor damage.

A tree also fell outside Hove Town Hall in Norton Road.

Labour councillor for Central Hove Gary Wilkinson said: "The tree has been there for as long as I can remember and is well known to local residents in central Hove and visitors alike.”

Meanwhile, a large plastic sheet got stuck on the electric conductor railway between Bognor and Barnham.

Network Rail closed the line temporarily to unravel the sheet before reopening the service.

Heavy rain also caused flooding on parts of the A23 at Pease Pottage, while the bus company Stagecoach were forced to cancel various services in the Pulborough area due to fallen trees on the road.

Hundreds of people, many travelling to Scotland for the Cop26 climate summit, were left waiting at Euston station after fallen trees caused all trains to be suspended on Sunday.

The disruption came as a result of damage to overhead electrical wires between Rugby and Milton Keynes on the West Coast Main Line.