Dozens of rail passengers cheated death by seconds when a mini-tornado destroyed a huge section of the railway station roof just seconds after a loaded train pulled out.

A “miracle escape” was how shocked witnesses described the mini-tornado which caused the collapse of a large section of the roof in Cork train station.

The gale-force winds which buffeted the country over the last 24 hours claimed the life of a young woman in Westmeath after a tree blew over and struck her car.