A NEWBORN baby was caught up in the drama whipped up by a tornado that struck South Lakeland.

Chris Barron, of Haverthwaite, was forced to make a run for his house with his 14-day-old son in his arms when 'out of nowhere' the twister appeared.

"We literally grabbed him from the car seat and legged it," said Mr Barron, 39. "If it had arrived seconds earlier it would have picked us up off our feet."

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The Bigland Hall Caravan Park owner and his partner, Jane Sharrock, had just arrived home at around 5.20pmlast Wednesday with baby Thomas, parking 50 metres from their home.

"It all seemed quite normal and wasn't exactly calm. But all of a sudden the wind speed increased instantaneously and the atmosphere changed - there was moisture in the air, twigs, leaves and debris everywhere and the trees started shaking, not just blowing," said Mr Barron. "After a few seconds of disbelief I said to Jane: 'This is a tornado.' So we got Thomas and ran into the house."

Mr Barron added that the tornado looked like a funnel cloud that 'came down out of the clouds'.

"Thomas was asleep the whole time, he couldn't have given a monkeys," he said. "But when we were in the house it dawned on me we had put him at the side of the house next to the woods where a tree could fall, so we moved him straight away."

A number of eyewitnesses reported seeing the tornado, including Haverthwaite resident Laura Coward.

" It was quite unbelievable at first but watching it getting bigger as it approached the house was scary," she said.

The tornado caused damage to properties in the village, ripping off a garage roof, throwing a garden trampoline onto a shed, dislodging roof tiles and bringing down tree branches.

Mr Barron believes the tornado hung over the estuary for a while and picked up strength over the water. Motorists travelling along the A590 witnessed the spectacular phenomenon.

"We can confirm it was a tornado if only a small one," said a Met Office spokeswoman. "There were a lot of reports of tornadoes across the country including a confirmed one in the Wirral and others reported in Lincolnshire and Derby.

"It isn't unusual to see them in the UK and actually we have more per square mile than America, but their tornadoes are so huge and cause so much damage they tend to be reported more often."

Last November the Gazette reported how a 'terrifying' tornado smashed its way through Crosslands Farm at Old Hutton, near Kendal, leaving a trail of devastation.