Weather experts put the south on tornado alert today after a twister ripped through part of Hampshire.

The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (Torro) issued a warning of isolated severe thunderstorms or weak tornadoes over the next few days.

On Saturday a tornado wreaked havoc in the village of Boarhunt.

It flattened sheds and greenhouses, brought down power lines and ripped the roof off a mobile home, causing thousands of pounds of damage.

The warning, published on Torro's website, applies to parts of south-west England, East Wales, south Wales and much of southern, central and eastern England.

It said: ''The highest tornado risk would appear to be along and close to the south coast.'' Torro, which is based in Oxford, issues three levels of warning of severe weather, convective outlook; convective discussion; and severe thunderstorm and tornado watches.

It stopped short of issuing the highest level of alert - a convective outlook - because it deemed the likelihood of severe, widespread thunderstorms was ''rather marginal''.

Rachel Vince, forecaster at the MeteoGroup UK, said: ''We have had reports of a tornado near Portsmouth on Saturday.

''The main concern is general wind and heavy rain through the next 24 to 48 hours.''