Tornado tears through western Russian city (VIDEOS)

The storm in Nizhny Novgorod ripped off roofing and brought down trees as streets were inundated A tornado swept through the western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod on Monday as a powerful storm brought torrential rain and flooding.

Footage shared online showed a dark funnel descending from storm clouds and hurling debris into the air.

The downpour overwhelmed drainage systems, with local media describing it as a wall of rain that turned some streets into fast-moving streams.

Trees and large branches were brought down by strong winds, with some reportedly landing on parked vehicles and damaging windows and bodywork.

No injuries were reported, according to Nizhny Novgorod Mayor Yury Shalabayev, who said municipal crews had been dispatched to deal with the aftermath.

The severe weather came amid an unusually sharp cold snap, with temperatures in Nizhny Novgorod plunging to around 8C (46F), well below the mid-August norm, when daytime highs typically reach around 22C (72F).

The Nizhny Novgorod tornado was the latest in a series of extreme weather events recorded in Russia this summer.

In June, a powerful vortex tore through the Ural town of Kushva, injuring 16 people, while a twister in Perm Region in late May destroyed more than 700 hectares of forest.

READ MORE: Tornado rips through Russia’s Urals (VIDEOS) A major climatological study found that on average more than 100 tornadoes were recorded annually in Russia between 2009 and 2018, although most occurred away from densely populated areas.

Researchers say their frequency had historically been significantly underestimated.