A powerful tornado tore through the Sicilian tourist hotspot of Marsala as storms and flooding battered parts of Europe.
Dramatic footage shows the huge whirlwind racing through the city on Friday morning, leaving residents terrified for their lives.
The tornado overturned and destroyed cars, damaged schools and injured several people, according to local reports.
The unfolding disaster was declared an emergency as panic spread across Marsala.
Videos from the scene show vehicles lying on their sides or roofs, with windows, lights and doors smashed apart.
One car was reportedly thrown into a ravine amid the chaos.
At the Alcide De Gasperi school in Strasatti, fixtures were ripped away and windows shattered. Cabinets and bookshelves were overturned during lessons, leaving classroom floors covered in debris.
Italy’s fire service said five crews had been sent to the area, with additional teams on the way. Two people were treated by paramedics.
Dramatic footage shows a huge whirlwind moving rapidly through Marsala, Sicily, on Friday morning
The whirlwind left residents in Marsala fearing for their lives, with several injuries reported
Cars were destroyed after being overturned, with footage showing vehicles on their sides or roofs and their windows, lights and doors smashed
Several people were treated for injuries, but none were in a life-threatening condition, according to La Sicilia.
A woman who witnessed the tornado said: ‘I’ve never been as afraid of dying as I was a few hours ago. This thing became four times bigger in two minutes.
‘I’m still shaking, but luckily everything’s okay at my house. I can hear ambulances everywhere. It’s hell.’
She added: ‘There’s a middle school that’s been destroyed, and a house was hit directly, with trucks and cars overturned. They say lightning went right inside the house. I hope they’re alive.
‘People are saying that some folks have gone missing. It’s a hellscape, guys. I want to cry.’
Vigili del Fuoco, Italy’s fire service, said in a post on X: ‘Trapani firefighters are carrying out interventions in the areas of Marsala, Petrosino and Mazara del Vallo following damage caused by a waterspout.
‘In Petrosino, a middle school was damaged by the wind. Reinforcement teams are arriving from Palermo and Agrigento.’
French meteorologist Guillaume Séchet, who shared footage of the tornado in Marsala, said: ‘A violent tornado struck the Marsala area on Sicily’s west coast this morning.
‘The damage is locally significant in the area, and several vehicles are reportedly among the structures and objects overturned.’
Italia 24H Live reported on X: ‘Numerous damages in the morning in Marsala due to the passage of several tornadoes.
‘Reported some cars lifted meters off the ground and roofs torn off. Also reported waterspouts offshore.’
Meanwhile self-described ‘thunderstorm-tornado nerd’ Federico Pavan said: ‘This could be the most intense Sicilian tornado in several decades, with cars being hurled around.’
A spokesman for the fire service said: ‘A tornado struck the province of Trapani, particularly affecting the areas of Marsala, Petrosino, and Mazara del Vallo.
‘Five firefighter teams from across the province were deployed to the area for rescue operations.
‘In the Marsala area, the severe weather event struck the Alcide De Gasperi Institute, causing damage to the building—blown window frames, broken windows, and scattered school supplies—and widespread devastation.
‘Elsewhere in the area, several cars were overturned by the tornado, the most serious incident in Petrosino, where a car ended up in a ravine.
A vehicle was flung into a ravine in the chaos, according to the fire service
Pictured: This image shows the extent of the destruction as a building is left battered by the tornado
The Italian fire service said five crews have been deployed to the area
Pictured: A paramedic is seen moving a stretcher with an injured person on
‘Two people were injured and were treated by firefighters and paramedics.
‘Reinforcement teams from the Palermo and Agrigento command centers are arriving to address the serious situation.’
It comes as parts of Europe are lashed by storms and flooding. According to Geopop, temperatures across Italy have plummeted to between 5C and 8C as cold air swoops across the continent from the North Atlantic.
Naples has seen ‘violent’ wind and rain over the past 24 hours while Lazio was hit by storms, causing secondary streams to overflow and tree branches to block roads as fire crews were deployed to clear garages and basements.
Meanwhile brutal storms last month battered one of Spain’s most popular holiday hotspots, with torrential rain and flash flooding turning streets to rivers.
The Costa Blanca was lashed by severe weather as storms tore through the province of Alicante, just 48 hours after a British man died in flash floods near Barcelona.
Up to 50 litres of rain per square metre fell along parts of the coast in just a few hours.
The deluge was accompanied by booming thunder and lightning strikes, with sudden flooding turning roads into rivers.
A pedestrian carrying an umbrella walks past a tree downed due to a storm in Naples on Friday
Dramatic footage showed dozens of cars stranded in muddy floodwater as containers were swept into the path of traffic.
Another clip showed water surging onto a bar terrace, leaving chairs and tables submerged.
It comes after Europe endured a summer of searing heat, with more than half the continent exposed to dangerous temperatures that posed a serious risk to human health.
New data reveals that a record 52 per cent of Europe experienced at least ‘very strong’ heat stress during the season, equivalent to feels-like temperatures of 38C or higher.
The extreme conditions helped make it Europe’s third-warmest summer on record and the hottest ever recorded in western Europe.
According to scientists, unusually hot weather arrived early, with the first major heatwave sweeping across large parts of western Europe in late May.
The heat then refused to let up, persisting through June, July and August and continuing into September.
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