Butlins Pwllhelli TORNADO August 1989

The Tornado came through the site on the 14th - this video was taken the next day (15/8/1989) and shows some of the destruction caused. Many chalets were destroyed & lots of people then had their holidays cancelled. We had to leave so drove to LOOE in Cornwall - what a beautiful place

[@hunnybunnybee01]

I had just turned 14 years old when, I've never forgotten it, and looked today for any videos and came across this one, I'm gald I wasn't going mad 🙄 thanks for sharing 🤗

[@daveaswad]

I was there for this, I was 10 and I'll never forget looking out the window and seeing chalet roofs flying by. No matter the danger or destruction though, my mum still managed to get to the bingo.

[@alanday700]

This happend the week I we came back from our holiday, I don't remember it, as I was only 4, but my parents told me about it later on, as I grew up this became on of my favourite sites, it's a shame it's now a haven with most of the attaritions gone :( one day Butlins will be great again

[@alanday700]

I still go every year, and it's improving every time :)

[@diesalweasel]

It got hit about 2 weeks later after we had left. I was around 6 or 7 at the time. Do you remember the old lady in the glass case i can only assume it was out side out of some arcade place. She use to say welcome to the supergran i think. It used to shit me up every time

[@Proacher10]

I was in the swimming pool at the time this happened with my 2 older brothers, I was 8 years old. The pool glass roof came crashing in, I lost my two brothers in the chaos that followed......I remember some nice lady looking after me till they found me....cried like a baby!!! Ended up going back to our chalet in my swim gear with a towl around me, we left the following morning. I started to think I had imagined just how bad it saw until I saw this video

[@LittleMissFubar]

I was there too went in the toilet with me mum and just as we came out a tree fell through the roof! Still sh#t scared of the wind even now

[@georgeduncan9443]

wow that brings back memories. my family and I were there, in fact , the woman and little boy by the pool in the lake in the opening scene are my youngest brother and my mum ! ( random ! )yeah we spent the night in the theatre as I recall. my most enduring memory however was spending most of the following day in queues to try and get compensation ! ouch. I never realised ( or rather remembered ) that it was the night of my birthday though lol. I had just turned 11 .

[@rico05202]

I was at Butlins Pwllheli in July 1989 with my Dad and brother when I was 9 years old. Felt kinda weird watching the news reports on the tornado and seeing some of the destruction to the places we'd been to a few weeks earlier.

[@MartysWhiteSuit]

I was there during this time, working in the Beer Stores. I remember it clearly. I was living on the headland at the time and had no damage personally, but lots of staff lost everything they had. I had lived in the chalets that were destroyed. All the staff pulled together to organise the return journeys for holiday-makers. I remember being led with more than a hundred others through a sea of broken glass along the boating lake.

[@paigeleigh2554]

Wow!

[@paigeleigh2554]

I was a Redcoat in 1985 and I can't imagine this happening. You all did brilliantly!

[@ThePhilip6000]

I was about 8 think all car windows in the front car park we’re smashed

[@MartysWhiteSuit]

@@ThePhilip6000 I can imagine. I never went to the front side for those days afterwards. I was helping to account for any stock taken. It was a very hard 5 days. Hard on the nerves.

[@richardbhurosah7446]

WOW!!! Thanks for uploading this video! i randomly thought about this and the interwebs brought me here! i remember it well, i was 6, and with my Mum & cousin (she was around 8) at the time. We were in a restaurant and i was just about to tuck into a trifle when part of the roof blew off! i was so scared! Remember spending the night in a hall of somesort with all other holidaymakers. The staff were exemplary and pulled together magnificently. i never realised it was a tornado, always thought it was a hurricane. Can't help but think it was all my fault... as a couple of weeks earlier i was in Mauritius with my Dad, and was caught up in a huge tropical cyclone!! Maybe the wind followed me?!!

[@cookiesncream77_86]

Yep was also in the dining room I think I was about 12.

[@drummerman7478]

Great video, brings back memories ( of running from that tornado)

[@kingsman428]

Anyone else watch this to see if they were on the film? 😄

[@cg8153k]

the TORNADO came through the site on the 14th - this video was taken the next day (15/8/1989) and shows some of the destruction caused. Many of the chalets were severely damages and lots of people had their holidays cancelled. We drove to LOOE in Cornwall where we spent the rest of our holiday (LOOE is a very beautiful & relaxing place)

[@zarawhelan8190]

Hi there, I am writing an article marking 30 years since the tornado for the Daily Post-North Wales Live and was hoping you'd be free for a very quick chat about what happened that day? I'd love to be able to feature your experience in the piece. Thank you.

[@cadwalli]

How random.... i was looking for news on this and found this video - thats me (Ian) quickly walking past the camera in the cream coat and my cousins Ellie and Zoe playing and talking !!! I still have the copy you sent me after it all happened! Hope you are all well. Nan is no longer with us but she still spoke of this holiday and the night we all slept in the theatre!!

[@Tiswas2010]

I lived through this! Been scared of the wind ever since.... My partner and I where staying in Red Camp, in a tpp floor chalet second row of chalets from back of red camp. It was a Monday and it had been a lovely sunny day. It was about 4pm and we had just gotten back from the lovely town of Pwehelli where we had spent the day. After going grocery shopping in the supermarket at the camp, we headed back to our chalet. It was just after 5pm ish by this time and the sky had turned dull and cloudy and it had started raining. Back in the chalet I was just about to start cooking our dinner whilst my partner was ironing our clothes to go out in afterwards. We had planned see Stan Boardman's show at 7.30pm. Anyways, the wind was howling so loudly and it just kept on get louder and stronger. It was almost roaring. By this time we both felt concerned, and I was feeling quite frightened. I opened the chalet door a little to have a look outside and the door flew open. I remember struggling to try to close it and called for my partner to help me do so, and just as we where about to close the door, which took both of us to do, we heard a really loud bang and saw roofs coming flying off buildings, like they where pieces of paper. The noise was awful. We had closed the door and both looked at each other in disbelief at what we had just witnessed. The wind died down quite quickly after this but it was still raining. So we decided to got dressed quickly in our daytime clothes and leave the chalet. We just didn't feel safe and felt concerned if The wind picked up again. We didn't know much about tornados at this time. The devastation as we walked through red camp was awful. The fair ground was full of debri. A large treee, in betwwen the chalets, had fallen and crashed into the roof of an upstairs chalet. Apparently the family had been eating dinner at the time,, but luckily they hadnt been hurt. The windows of the swimming pool had been broken. Trees now stood like fallen dominoes in a line. The hut were we had booked a trip to snowdonia has been completely destroyed and bits of it where floating in the lake. A boat from the lake was firly lodged in the top of a tree. The worst hit chalets where the staff chalets which had almost been gut. They had no roofs and all the doors had blown in. I never found out if any staff where in the chalets at the time the tornado hit.....We went quickly over to the other side of the camp and went straight to the bar place where Stan Boardman was playing that night and bought ourselves a stiff drink. Our camp ie red camp was declared unsafe to return to so we had to spend the night sleeping on the ballroom floor. The next day we were allowed to go back and pack our belongings and make our own way home. Not the best of holidays to say the very least, but it was an experience and I have had a new found respect for the power of weather since.

[@paigeleigh2554]

Thanks for that!

[@zarawhelan8190]

Hi, I'm writing an article for the Daily Post-North Wales to mark 30 years since the tornado and was wondering if it would be possible to speak to you about your experience that day. Would you be available for a quick chat at all?

[@LittleMissFubar]

Thought I was the only one traumatised by this event!

[@Gianfranco_69]

@@LittleMissFubar nah...me too

[@Tiswas2010]

@@LittleMissFubar I know it was really scary. Every time we get a high wind I am on edge. It just all happened so expectantly.

[@penrar]

I was there. The ceiling hatch in our chalet moved, nobody believed 4yo me. Thought it was a Ghost! Next thing, chaos and everyone went to the main hall. Fun times 🤣

[@cg8153k]

BUTLINS (Pwllhelli) TORNADO August 1989 - see the destruction many chalets destroyed and lots of peoples holidays cancelled - we had to leave so we drove to LOOE in Cornwall for the remainder of our holiday (Looe is very beautiful)

[@aledwilliams1929]

I was there working as a handyman lol, it was a lost cause, most were staff chalets, very scary night, xx

[@Ducks-are-cool1]

Oh man that was bad for the staff

[@Ducks-are-cool1]

I forgot when did the camp closed

[@garyshethers9834]

1998 as butlins but still open as a haven