This is the scene of destruction after a mini-tornado tore off a conservatory roof and sent it crashing into a house three doors down the street.


Shocked residents living in Osborne Road, New Milton, today described the mayhem caused by the freak storm that left their gardens littered with debris.


The conservatory is part of a bungalow owned by Sandra Carlse and her elderly mother, neither of whom were at the property at the time.


Witnesses say the polycarbonate roof was tossed into the air and disintegrated as it flew over two other homes in the quiet residential street.


Mrs Carlse said: “I got a call from one of the neighbours who said the top of the conservatory had come off during a tornado. I was shocked when I got there and saw the damage.”


Part of the shattered roof crashed into a property owned by pensioner Tony Morris, destroying a Velux window at the top of the stairs.


Mr Morris, who also lost several tiles in the incident said: “It started raining and got really dark. Then I heard a roaring noise that sounded like an explosion or a plane going over.


“It’s lucky I wasn’t going up the stairs at the time – I might have been hit by flying glass.”


Neighbours Bill Sando, 76, and his wife Dorothy, 75, said some of the debris landed in their driveway, where they normally park their car.

Mrs Sando said: “We were stuck in a queue at the local tip. If we hadn’t been delayed we’d have been at home and our car would have been smashed."

Last night a Met Office spokesman said: “Tornadoes form when the weather is unstable and showery – conditions seen across much of the UK on Wednesday.”