History

The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO), founded by Dr Terence Meaden in 1974, is a privately-supported not-for-profit research body serving the national and international public interest. Originally called the Tornado Research Organisation it was expanded in 1982 following the inclusion of the Thunderstorm Census Organisation (TCO). Data-collection, research and co-ordination is undertaken by the Directors of TORRO supported an Advisory Board alongside numerous observers, investigators and other contributors. Most supporters are British, with a smaller number from elsewhere in Europe and across the world.

Work by all TORRO Staff and supporters is undertaken voluntarily. Until 1998 all funding was undertaken by the Directors with the help of donations. In 1998 an official membership scheme was launched to ease the increasing financial burden (Note that the membership scheme will be relaunched in 2025). TORRO Staff are composed of professional and amateur meteorologists, with academic qualifications ranging from novices to doctorates: the only requirement is an interest in the subject area, enthusiasm and a desire to add to the body of scientific knowledge for the good of mankind.

The core of TORRO's activity has been in data collection, site investigations and climatological research. Despite limited budgets TORRO expanded into other areas such as forecasting (which ran for a period of approximately 20 years until being paused in 2025) with the growth of core activities initially covering British and Irish events before at one time encompassing all of Europe. In recent years TORRO only covers the UK & Ireland along with the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. TORRO carries out research on many aspects of severe weather including hailstorms, lightning impacts, tornadoes and thunderstorms.

Since 1985, TORRO has hosted annual conferences, initially held annually and now bi-annually in Spring and Autumn. These have often been held at an university, providing a platform for presenting recent case studies, site investigations and research in the field of severe weather.

At the 50th Anniversary conference in October 2024, three awards were introduced and have been awarded annually at each autumn conference to a number of recipients who have been identified as having significantly contributed to either the organisation or the wider meteorological community, especially in advancing our understanding of severe convection and tornadoes.

TORRO data was published in the Journal of Meteorology (latterly the International Journal of Meteorology) between 1975 and 2017. More recent reports are found on our website. TORRO data has been used in numerous other academic publications.

TORRO Directors