By Emily Mee, news reporter
A tornado has swept through Greater Manchester, uprooting trees and damaging buildings and cars.
Witnesses described the event as "surreal" and one Twitter user said it was "seemingly a five minute torrent of madness".
Bruce Moran posted a picture of a car with a crumpled bonnet and a large sheet of metal lodged in a front garden.
The Met Office confirmed a tornado had struck the area and posted data from Manchester Airport which reported a funnel cloud.
Tornadoes are known as funnel clouds until they hit the ground and cause damage.
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The unusual weather hit areas near Manchester Airport at around 5pm on Friday.
Rebecca Jeffery, who was in Stamford Park in Hale with her children, aged six and one, described the panic she felt when the tornado hit.
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"The water running down the terraced roads was so deep I couldn't go through it and then suddenly there was a huge gust of wind.
"I turned the pram away from the wind and grabbed my six-year-old and then we stood as the wind went crazy and metal and wood swirled through the air above the houses."
She continued: "My son says I just shouted 'stay beside me' over and over again as I was panicking he'd get blown away.
"I've never seen trees move like that.
"I saw the tree branches fall down behind us and then suddenly it was all gone again. It was surreal."
Dan Teasdale tweeted footage of the cloud swirling over tRead More – Source
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