A TORNADO hit Suffolk this afternoon, ripping up trees, knocking a chimney off a bungalow and leaving a trail of damage in its wake.

A TORNADO hit Suffolk this afternoon, ripping up trees, knocking a chimney off a bungalow and leaving a trail of damage in its wake.

Witnesses reported a miniature tornado hitting Knodishall and Pettistree at 3pm today, lasting for a few minutes.

Trees and power cables were felled and tiles and chimneys flew from rooftops when the storm hit.

Police and the Highways Agency attended Snape Road, Knodishall, where a tree hit a power line, ripping a chimney off a bungalow.

Meanwhile, residents in Pettistree told of the terrifying moment the tornado hurtled through part of their village - uprooting large trees and ripping tiles off roofs.

A greenhouse was also lifted off the ground and smashed, while garden furniture was thrown through a fence.

The freak weather condition caused significant damage along a row of houses.

Maureen Stollery, one of the residents in Presmere Road who witnessed the phenomenon, said: “I could not believe my eyes.

“It was horrendous. Everything just went up in the air. It came through in a passage and took out everything in its path.

“I was cleaning upstairs when I heard a noise and I saw the top of our 20 foot tree had come out of the ground, turned and fell back down to earth.”

Mrs Clare Borrett, 35, from Blaxhall, near Woodbridge, said: “I was walking my dogs and it was just tipping down with rain and I got close to my home and all of a sudden this really dark cloud came from nowhere and then my hat blew off.

“It was just going around the road so fast that I started to run after it but I could not stop running because of the wind and it hit me over on the ground.

“I then managed to get up off the ground and saw sparks flying from electric cables and thought that this is not good and stumbled to about 30 yards from my house and it hit me on the ground again and I had to crawl up a grass verge and throw myself in a hedge, if not I think that I would have gone up with it. I know that seems exaggerated but it is the truth and it frightened the life out of me

“It all happened and was over again under a minute. It was really freaky and very scary.”

Were you caught in the carnage? Leave a message below to let us know.